YOUR RIGHT 
TO BE HAPPY 



FRANK S. VAN EPS 
MABIONB.VANEPS 



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Book 




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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 



YOUR RIGHT TO 
BE HAPPY 

OR, REJOICE ALWAYS 



FRANK S^^VAN EPS 

AND 

MARION B. VAN EPS 




NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

681 FIFTH AVENUE 









Copyright, 1906, by 
Frank S. Van Efs 

New Edition, Revised and Re-set 

Copyright, 1922, by 

E. P. DuTTON & Company 



All Rights Reserved 



@CI.A683291 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

SEP 19 1922 
^4 / 



FOREWORD 

IN republishing this book it is believed that 
its message is vital for the present day. 
Never was humanity in greater need of under- 
standing and applying the teaching of Jesus 
Christ. Modern psychology is exploring the 
deeper regions of the mind and is making 
known the causes and results of mental action. 
The importance of right thinking is- becoming 
more apparent to all. In the last analysis true 
happiness is dependent upon freedom of spirit. 
Only the power of Christ can really deliver a 
person from the bondage of his own mistaken 
thought and action, and from that of others. 
Just as scientifically and certainly today as 
nineteen hundred years ago, *Hhe Truth shall 
make you free.^^ World conditions can only 
become right as individuals awaken to fellow- 
ship with God and to cooperation on this basis 
with one another. 

V 



vi FOREWORD 

We are learning much about the psychic 
realm and our relation with the unseen. Mas- 
tery in this, as in the outward world, is depend- 
ent upon spiritual laws. We may increasingly 
learn these for ourselves if we are willing to 
be taught by the spirit of Christ. Thought com- 
munication has already been proven a scientific 
fact by many in their own experience, and true 
love knows no barriers in God's universe. We 
are all one family and we may become spirit- 
ually conscious of this if we are willing to live 
in harmony with our Father. 

The spiritual problem of today is an educa- 
tional one. How may we create channels of 
thought in ourselves and in others through 
which life-giving spiritual influence may come. 
The truth which Christ taught in simple lan- 
guage has the greatest transforming power, but 
to get the attention of many it must be restated 
in a modern scientific manner. All who have 
seen deeply, realize that true religion and true 
science are one, for they express the thought 
and action of one spiritual being whom we recog- 
nize as our Father. The life and the teaching 



FOREWORD vii 

of Christ are susceptible to the deepest scien- 
tific analysis, but in their fullness they can 
never be measured. Our insight into the higher 
spiritual laws, or God^s way of working, is de- 
pendent upon the degree to which we admit 
Him to our hearts and lives. Only as the ever- 
new life of God becomes a conscious reality in 
our daily living, can we go forward with peace 
and joy in the service of God and our fellow 
men. As an aid to spiritual realization and 
progress this book will be of service to many. 

Le Roy Jeffers. 



PREFACE 

A SERIES of addresses that proved helpful 
to many who heard them were so com- 
mended that the author yielded to the many 
requests to have them printed, that a larger 
audience might profit by them. This book is 
an outcome of many years of experience, prac- 
tice, and study, especially study of the Greek 
New Testament in connection with that of such 
remarkable persons as George Miiller, Dr. 
CuUis, Dorothea Triidel, and many others whose 
lives of prayer have shown wonderful works, or 
demonstrations, if that word be preferred. 

The reality of the spiritual world and its 
essential relation to what is called the material 
world must, in the progressive unfoldment of 
human life and possibility, become increasingly 
the reliance of all mankind in meeting the issues 
of daily life, experience, and service. Man in 
his ages of progress has grown, and in growing 

iz 



X PREFACE 

has outgrown many things and grown into 
many other things. The vision of what ought 
to be lures us to use all right means to make 
what ought to be to become manifest as we 
work together with God as his children. Sci- 
ence, so marvelous in its achievements in many 
other lines, must do its proper work in spiritual 
lines, to the inestimable good of mankind, and 
to the establishing of that order of things called 
the Kingdom of God on the earth. Once let man- 
kind turn to spiritual things and their practical 
use, as already to material, and a progress will 
result surpassing all our present conception. 
The universe is a unity throughout. 

To help in some small measure such a devel- 
opment of the unknown but spiritually conceived 
results, this book is brought to the hands and 
the use of those who wish to take part in the 
great development, beginning in their own selves 
the spiritual work. 

F. S. Van EPS. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Rejoice 1 

II. The Consciousness of God .... 30 

III. No Anxiety 62 

IV. Prayer and Supplication 91 

V. Thanksgiving 116 

VI. The Peace of God 142 



YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 



Rejoice in the Lord at all times; again I will say 
Rejoice, Let your mildness be known to all men. The 
Lord is at hand: about nothing be anxious, but in 
everything by the prayer and the statement of need 
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known 
unto God. And the peace of God which surpasses all 
understanding shall keep your hearts and your 
thoughts in Christ Jesus, — Philippians IV: 4-7. 



YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

OR, REJOICE ALWAYS 



REJOICE 
'TRejoice in the Lord all the time/' 

JOY, happiness, or satisfaction is the birth- 
right of every human being ; and there is a 
sure way to realize it. Our capacity for hap- 
piness and our eagerness for it are evidences 
of this fact. As the ear is the organ for hearing 
and the eye for seeing, and their very existence 
points to hearing and to seeing ; so, the capacity 
for anything, such as happiness, points to its 
satisfaction. A faculty points to its own action 
and effectiveness. Man^s capacity for joy 
proves that his destiny is joy and happiness. If 
he is not having an experience which accords 

1 



2 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

with the things to which his very nature and 
constitution point and which according to rea- 
son they require, it is evident that something 
unnatural must be interfering with him. The 
promise of his nature must be fulfilled. 

More people are to-day on the way to hap- 
piness than ever before in history. This is 
because the secret of happiness is being more 
widely understood and acted upon. We are, 
as a race, nearer universal happiness and satis- 
faction than ever, even though many say that 
man's lot is sorrow. 

Looking over humanity, we see the majority 
apparently unhappy, dissatisfied, and complain- 
ing. These questions arise: ^^Is all this neces- 
sary? Is this a part of the plan of God? Is 
there no balm in Gilead?'' Reason shows that 
the evident purpose of the Creator is that all 
shall be happy and satisfied. 

But how? Where do people miss their way? 
Why do they not find it? If there is any way 
of peace and happiness, why has it not been 
found and followed all these ages? Surely it 
would seem that all people would rush for the 



REJOICE 3 

way of release from burdens, if the way were 
pointed out. But, is it so? Point out to some 
one what you have found to help or satisfy you, 
and you will not always find that there will be 
a rush to try the same. People have been in 
the habit of objecting, arguing, or hesitating, 
rather than accepting with eagerness the way 
of deliverance. Too often they ask that foolish 
question, ^^Why is the way so, and not other- 
wise?^' It is not so much asking questions that 
leads to freedom, as obeying divine directions, 
believing the truth when it is pointed out. The 
truth does no one good, unless he accepts it and 
acts upon it. 

There is such a thing as joy on a scientific 
basis, joy based on known principles and laws; 
happiness that endures and can not be destroyed 
or taken away, but can be depended upon as 
permanent. It is above and beyond the affairs 
and circumstances of the world, and not de- 
pendent or consequent upon them. 

We are now to investigate as a scientific 
matter the secret of this happiness, to proceed 
step by step and ascertain its principles and 



4 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

laws, and then to apply them so as to have the 
science and the art of being joyous, happy, and 
satisfied. 

Happiness is commonly considered to be that 
state in which all is going well mth one, and 
he enjoys life; enjoyment of good fortune; real- 
ization of good. One looks upon his experience 
as a whole and sees that the general trend or 
course of his affairs is good, and he is thus in 
that state in which he has a sense of sufficiency, 
and so he is satisfied, has enough. This is 
really a state of the inner and essential man, 
and therefore is a state of mind or spirit. 

From the philosophical standpoint, it must 
have its origin not in things or in circum- 
stances, or even in people. Whatever things, 
circumstances, or people may be, one may not 
be happy or satisfied because of them or in 
connection with them. Again, whatever they 
may be, one can be happy in spite of them. 
The person is supreme. From the standpoint 
of human experience, we may say the same ; for 
experience corroborates the conclusion reached 
by means of our reasoning from the nature 



REJOICE 5 

of things. Watch those whose position in the 
world, whose possession of things, whose cir- 
cumstances, and whose relations with others 
wonld seem sufficient ground for happiness and 
contentment, and you find that they are not 
always happy. Often they seem the farthest 
from such a state. On the other hand, we find 
many happy, though they are without the 
things, circumstances, or people that have been 
considered by many as necessary to this condi- 
tion. It requires no very deep penetration to 
perceive that man is supreme above things, 
above circumstances, and above relations to 
others; master, and not slave; and contains 
within himself the essentials of happiness and 
satisfaction. On himself, therefore, rests the 
responsibility for his condition. 

It must be in the person himself that good is 
realized and satisfaction found, and the source 
can be nothing else than the infinite Spirit. If 
joy, happiness, satisfaction, is a state of the 
essential man, and he is a rational spirit ; then 
this state must come about according to the 
laws, or the methods of action, of the rational 



6 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

spirit. Then, as the source of all good is the 
infinite Spirit, man must realize good through 
the observance of the laws of spiritual action. 

A great mistake made by people has been that 
they have sought satisfaction in things lower 
in the scale of being than themselves, and they 
have necessarily been disappointed. ^^Seek, and 
you shall find'' does not mean seek beneath you, 
but above you. ^^Ask, and it shall be given 
you,'' means ask of God. Shall we seek satis- 
faction elsewhere ? When we look above things, 
above even ourselves, and seek from a higher 
source, all satisfaction must be found with defi- 
niteness and certainty, and our birthright must 
be realized. 

There is a region of our being, call it deep or 
call it high, that is beyond the fluctuations of 
affairs, beyond the changes of relations with 
others, beyond the shifting of all external 
things. It is the region of cause ; and so, above 
effects. From this region one can look down 
upon all things with the air of master. Many 
have testified to this, and their experience is 
the actual demonstration of the existence of the 



REJOICE 7 

region mentioned and of the practical value to 
one of retiring to it. ^^Thou wilt keep him in 
perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee'^ is 
the prophet's declaration. The great Master 
said : ' ' Peace I leave with yon ; my peace I give 
unto you ; not as the world gives do I give unto 
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let 
it be fearful.^' 

Again, note these words : ^' These things have 
I spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and 
that your joy may be filled full.'' Fulness of 
joy, of gladness, of satisfaction, is what it was 
the evident intention of Christ to bring into 
human experience, not as a mere pious emotion, 
not as a flitting and transitory thing, but as a 
practical, every-day experience, enduring and 
constant. Whatever man has experienced, what- 
ever his life has seemed, the Christ has shown 
the way to that which is truly divine and is 
man's true condition, that which God origi- 
nally intended. 

How shall this be experienced? How can we 
get into that state which makes trouble, anxiety, 
and all the rest of such things not even memo- 



8 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

ries any more ? This is a scientific and a prac- 
tical question. 

Panl points ont the way to this desired state, 
and it is not sanctimonious piety, but what sci- 
ence, philosophy, and experience confirm. 

We mil note this way step by step, so that it 
may be very plain to every one. The first step 
is this: '^Eejoice in the Lord at all times; and 
again I will say, Rejoice. ^^ Those who have 
been in the habit of complaining, of grumbling 
at nearly everything, will find this apparently 
a hard thing to do, and may ask, ^'How can one 
rejoice at all times? How can one rejoice when 
things seem adverse, and people seem hostile 
or treacherous?^^ Let them lay aside every- 
thing preconceived, all their past, and think. 
Let them not meet the suggestion of the way 
of help mth an objection. 

Is it possible to rejoice or be glad all the time? 
to be free from the fluctuations of joy and de- 
pression? Is it a matter of one^s own choice? 
Can happiness be brought into the human heart 
that is weighed down? Can the shadows and 
the darkness be dispelled? To all these ques- 



EEJOICE 9 

tions there is one answer — Yes. It may further 
be said that, when the way is made clear to a 
person, he has no excuse for not being happy. 
Many things once regarded as inevitable, as be- 
yond man^s power, are now proved to be within 
the power of every one. How much of human 
experience is directly the result of using or 
of not using the will intelligently no one can 
tell. It often looks as if the whole responsibility 
for conditions rested upon people themselves. 
If this is so, it is most important that every 
one investigate, and then earnestly apply what 
he learns. 

The statement is, ^^Eejoice in the Lord at all 
times,'' or ^^all the time.'' This is not sancti- 
mony, but sound reason. One is not to rejoice 
in himself, in others, or in things; but in the 
Infinite. This is a profound idea. John and 
Paul especially use the phrases, ^^in Christ," 
^^in the Lord," ^4n the Christ," and others 
similar. The idea is that of being in the Christ, 
in fellowship, communion, living contact, real 
oneness, with him. It is being in the same state, 
the same thought and life, as that in which he 



10 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

is. To rejoice and be glad in this relation with 
the Christ is to realize one's oneness with the 
Creator, and so to withdraw from the outward 
thing or situation which may seem unpleasant 
and unbearable. Thus God is a practical refuge. 
One flees to the secret place, and in the silence 
alone with God, prays to the Father in secret. 
This is one's sure sanctuary and citadel. One 
understands, because he demonstrates, that this 
action does bring him to a state of mind which 
enables him to encounter anything and not be 
moved. 

Eejoicing in the Lord is knowing that one is 
in vital union with God and that nothing in the 
world can overcome or disturb him. A man had 
an object which he wished to accomplish. He 
said : ^^ With God helping me, no power on earth 
but God can defeat me, and he will not, because 
he does not want to/' With this confidence, he 
went forward and succeeded. This was prac- 
tical rejoicing in the Lord. One has all the abil- 
ity and power, because he has all the resources, 
of the Infinite at his disposal. This is not a 
belief and hope simply, but a practical and tan- 



REJOICE 11 

gible thing. It is, in fact, not a theory or dogma, 
but it is a life. 

The repetition is significant: *^ Again I will 
say, Rejoice.'' It is as if Panl had, as he was 
writing, swept through a consideration of all 
the objections that might be brought up, re- 
viewed experience, giving all due consideration, 
and then, as a deliberate and fully warranted 
statement, repeated ^'Rejoice.'' It is not modi- 
fication, but intensification; it is not retraction, 
but emphatic reiteration. It is not theory, but 
scientific and demonstrable knowledge. 

The secret is to live constantly in conscious 
oneness with God, in the relation of the child 
to the Father, and so rejoicing in and because 
of this relation. People have too much lived in 
things, putting thought and effort upon them, 
seeking happiness in them, and acting as if all 
depended on them. All this is a great mistake. 
Everyone must, like the prodigal son, come to 
himself and say, ^^I will arise and go to my 
father.'' That wonderful parable illustrates 
human experience and how satisfaction is finally 
to be obtained after trying all kinds of mistaken 



12 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

ways and finding them disappointing. There 
is the proper place and the proper use of things ; 
but they should never be allowed to be placed 
in one^s consideration above himself, but sub- 
ject to himself. He should rule them, and never 
allow himself to be ruled by them. 

Many people, partially seeing this point, and 
endeavoring to free themselves from the bond- 
age to surroundings, have grown careless of the 
real nature and worth of things. From the 
extreme of living solely for houses, lands, and 
clothes, they now go about carelessly dressed, 
their homes are poorly kept, and their obliga- 
tions are never met. This is all wrong. What- 
ever tends to beautify the person or his sur- 
roundings, and all that is beautiful in this world 
about us that we call nature, have their part and 
place in the elevating of an individual, and so 
they make him more susceptible to those higher 
things which he is seeking. The poorly dressed 
man, living in a slovenly home, does not and 
can not develop as he would in artistic surround- 
ings. But he does not need to be despondent 
because he has not these things, as this will 



REJOICE IS 

oilly tend to drive him farther down the scale. 
The first step in getting np is to lift himself 
up ont of his snrronndings by rejoicing. ^^Seek 
first his kingdom and his rightness, and all these 
things shall be added to yon.^^ We should form 
the habit of rejoicing all the time, should culti- 
vate the attitude of joy and gladness. This very 
state of mind is power, and it leads to effective 
operation and desired results. Nothing else can 
so conduce to cheerfulness, and every one knows 
what a tonic is good cheer. How often the Great 
Teacher used to say, ^^Be of good cheer.'' Noth- 
ing else will bring one to enjoy life and every- 
thing in life more than rejoicing as a persistent 
and cultivated attitude. It is the first step in 
mastering a situation. It is culture of the best 
kind. 

How to do this is simple. It requires a de- 
cided use of the will, intelligently directed. We 
should look our situation over, and see that we 
are ourselves of more importance than any situ- 
ation in which we may be. The diamond is 
more than its setting. Things are not so bad 
as they seem. Let us determine that, however 



14 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

things may seem, whatever may come up, how- 
ever serious or complicated all may appear, 
before we do anything else, we will rejoice in 
our relation to the Infinite, rejoice in the fact 
that we are in vital touch and communion with 
the Power that rules all things and works all 
things together with us for good. Let us get 
good out of the situation. A cat, trying to eat, 
found the food hot on the side first approached, 
and walked around to the other side, because 
that might be cooler. That was good sense. Let 
us approach things from the other side, if they 
seem unpleasant from this side. We will turn 
everything around, if necessary; and in the 
divine power put forth in rejoicing in the Lord, 
bring forth good. We must rejoice in the Lord 
until we find something in the situation that is 
good, and make that our starting-point. It is 
there, whether we see it or not. We must look 
until we do see it. '^Seek, and you shall find.'' 
One finds what he looks for. 

We must be careful that in our anxiety we 
do not trust in things and appearances more 
than in God. In the pressure of things, though 



REJOICE 15 

one may say that he is trusting in God, yet he 
is heavy at heart and bowed down; but, when 
things look brighter, his heaviness is gone. Is 
he not, then, trusting and rejoicing in things 
rather than in God? The very fact of one's de- 
spair shows that he is trusting in things rather 
than in the Infinite. We must compel ourselves 
to trust and to rejoice in the Lord and in noth- 
ing else. Then our joy no one can take from 
us, and it will be full. What was that joy which 
Christ spoke of as ^^my joy"? It must have 
been something above that which is in things; 
it must have been in the Father and in his work. 
^^I have food to eat which you do not know,'' 
he said; ^^my food is to do the will of him that 
sent me." Here was his food, his life, his en- 
joyment. 

With this deeply impressed on ourselves, we 
are ready. We begin the day by saying, '^Re- 
joice, rejoice! Lift up! Good cheer! Courage!" 
This is drill and practice in setting the current 
of experience going as we wish it. If one is 
to be a good soldier on the field and in action, 
he must be a good soldier in his drill. Victory 



16 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

on the field depends mnch on one's drill when 
not there. One mnst not wait until a battle is 
on before he does his drilling. 

Every one knows that there is a great power 
in a watchword. It is a method and a means of 
concentrating power. A proverb often comes to 
mind and has a decided effect. ^^ Never buy 
what you do not want, just because it is cheap/' 
came to mind at a certain moment, and if the 
man had heeded the suggestion, an unnecessary 
purchase would have been avoided, and conse- 
quent financial embarrassment averted. Some 
word or quotation comes to mind at a moment 
of supreme importance and sets one on the way 
to victory. It is a scientific matter, that the 
words which one keeps in mind have a great 
power in shaping conditions and experiences. 
Words so held in mind exert a determining in- 
fluence upon one's career. Multitudes of exam- 
ples might be cited. A young man, peddling, 
saw a beautiful spot for a house and declared 
that he was going to o^^^l that place and would 
have it laid out as he described. For many years 
he has had that place as he determined and de- 



REJOICE 17 

clared. We have all said what we were going 
to do and have found things so shaping without 
our effort that our word has come true. Our 
speaking the word was the effort put forth. To 
say to one's self ^'Eejoice'^ is to set the whole 
action of the spirit in that line; and this sets 
the machinery of events going in that way. To 
keep repeating this word is to keep that action 
continuously in that line and thus it is a per- 
manent state. Every repetition adds an incre- 
ment of force to it and makes it more powerful. 
Soon one is joyous without effort, because he 
has struck a rhythm or flow that carries him as 
momentum. 

A thing may come up unexpectedly, spring- 
ing suddenly upon us. At the first suggestion 
of difficulty, we must take our word. Before 
fear can get hold of us, we must say ^'Eejoice'' 
to ourselves in our secret heart, being glad that 
we have all the resources of God at our com- 
mand, that we have the ability to deal with the 
situation and to master it, and that we can prove 
this ability. ^^I can do all things in the One 
who empowers me.'^ If doubts arise, we must 



18 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

kill them out by saying, ^^ Rejoice'' faster than 
the doubts come up. 

Many make the mistake, at this point, of won- 
dering why the trouble has come upon them, and 
thus they delay victory. Instead of thinking 
of a situation as trouble, or bemoaning what 
seems a coming battle, we are to think of what 
a victory is coming to us, and strike the first 
blow by saying to ourselves, ^'Eejoice,'' and 
then assume an attitude of Joy and light- 
heartedness. We are to go at the thing in a 
state of rejoicing, rather than in a state of 
complaining or of fear. Victory is certain. We 
must believe it and rejoice that we are victors 
and that events are certain to prove it. 

A sense of depression or discouragement 
attracts our attention. At the first notice of 
it, without giving way to it, we must throw 
ourselves into the state of joy and uplifting by 
saying, ^^Eejoice.'' No depression, discourage- 
ment, fear, or doubt can stand before rejoicing. 
It was as Paul and Silas rejoiced and sang 
praise in the jail at Philippi that night that they 
were liberated. Their praying and singing 



REJOICE 19 

brought about such a shaking that no locks or 
stocks could hold them. Complaining wins no 
victory; but rejoicing does win. 

Push the thought of ^^Kejoice'' right through 
your inharmonious condition, until by its posi- 
tive force it disintegrates the inharmonious 
condition. If there comes a place in which it 
seems to meet an obstruction and it seems diffi- 
cult to push the thought, instead of relaxing the 
effort, add more force to it, and persist. Soon 
the negative vibrations will change to the posi- 
tive character, and you have overcome the situ- 
ation. 

If one forms the habit of so rejoicing, trouble 
can not assail him to harm him, and it can not 
remain. He sheds trouble or what would trouble 
him, if it were not for his attitude of mind. This 
self -training is preventive. It not only gets one 
out, but it also keeps one out. It wards off. No 
one can tell what he has avoided by being di- 
vinely led and protected. To him there is noth- 
ing evil or harmful. One does not see disagree- 
able thingSj if he has this habit well formed. 
He does not look for them or at them. Not 



20 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

looking that way, he does not see them. He is 
in a state of composure which is beyond dis- 
turbance. He is kept. Joy is of God, and to 
rejoice in the Lord always means to take this 
divine attribute into every situation. 

It is said that there are depths of the ocean 
so profound that they are not perceptibly af- 
fected by the most violent storms on the surface. 
So, in every person there is a region which can 
not be disturbed. We should dwell in the deep 
regions of our being, where all is imperturbable 
calm. It will then be easy to let our self-control 
be known to all whom we meet. Excitement and 
its consequences will not occur. Beyond the 
atmosphere are empyrean heights where no 
storms agitate. So there are heights of life 
which are beyond the ordinary troubled atmos- 
phere of human experience. We must learn to 
dwell there. 

In the face of great loss and seeming disaster, 
as one was about to give way to complaining, 
suddenly there came, as if spoken by another, 
these words: ^^When you get where you can 
bear adversity without complaining, there will 



REJOICE 21 

be no adversity to you." Here was the same 
idea of rejecting from experience what usually 
has been regarded as hard to bear. He began 
by rejoicing in spite of the appearance of things, 
and when the thought of loss would come to 
mind, he would overwhelm it with rejoicing in 
the Lord. Adversity was impossible, and a 
prosperous turn soon came, proving that the 
word which had come to him was true and 
therefore divine. It seemed, from a business 
standpoint, that everything was about to be 
swept away from him, even his home. Experi- 
enced men said that there was no chance for 
him. But, having had that word, that divine mes- 
sage, as he regarded it, he accepted it as such 
and acted upon it. When doubts would arise, 
when a feeling of regret at his threatened loss 
would come, when an idea of self-pity or of 
complaint would come up, he would silence this 
by repeating, ^^ Rejoice," and then the words of 
the message, ^^When you get where you can 
bear adversity without complaining, there will 
be no adversity to you." A sudden and un- 
looked-for turn came and that adversity which 



22 YOUE RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

seemed inevitable did not come to him, and the 
very idea of adversity seems fast passing from 
his mind and experience. 

The effects of fretfulness and fault-finding 
are evident. Grumble one hour and watch the 
results. Your mind is all stirred up, and you 
are irritable and snappy. Your face is pinched 
and puckered and wrinkled. You look a year 
older than you did an hour before. This cer- 
tainly is not the effect of time, but of grumbling. 
Your complexion is not so clear. Your stomach 
feels disturbed. Your head is uneasy. Perhaps 
this does not fully describe the effects of an 
hour of grumbling. If you are not satisfied 
with this experiment and your scientific study 
of its results, continue grumbling another hour 
and study results. Note the effects not only 
upon physical lines, but also upon social and 
commercial lines. People shun you. No one 
enjoys your society. Even your own people 
keep away from you as much as possible. Do 
you think that you can do business while you 
are all kinked up with fret and irritation? Is 



KEJOICE 23 

any one who frets in a mood to reach out into 
great enterprises and command success? 

In a great city, famed for its far-reaching 
commercial activity, a member of a prominent 
firm has allowed the habit of fretting to become 
fastened npon him. ^^ Allowed'^ is used ad- 
visedly; for, if he had not allowed it, it could 
not have been. Every employe dreads to go 
into his private office with the matters which 
in the course of his own business each day come 
up for his consultation and decision. His office 
is his den, unmistakably. Can employes be in 
their most efficient state under such an em- 
ployer? Will customers come there, if any 
other establishment can furnish even approxi- 
mately as good service? 

Now try the more excellent way. Go away 
by yourself, and if you can, shut your door so 
as to be free from all interruption. Speak with 
yourself inside, such words as these: ^^Now I 
am alone with God. I drop out of mind all care, 
all responsibility, all intensity. The divine Spirit 
now quiets me and imparts to me life, wisdom, 
love, and power. I am still and peaceful — still 



24 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

and peaceful/^ Speak soothingly. Now let the 
spirit of these words fill yon. Soon yon will 
feel a deep qnietness and yon will feel strangely 
rested and invigorated. Now say, *^I am full 
of joy and rejoicing. I rejoice in God who is 
my refuge and my strength.'' The effects of 
your rejoicing you will notice in a mental uplift- 
ing and the stirring of your thoughts, new ideas 
coming with clearness and inspiration. A new 
confidence fills you, and you feel that you are 
master of any situation. Physically, you feel 
rested, nourished, renewed, and invigorated. 
It is a pleasure to be alive. A sense of bound- 
ing health pervades your entire being. New 
turns in business now come, and everything in 
life takes on a brighter look. You come forth 
victorious over yourself, and you go forth con- 
quering and to conquer. 

Is it not hypocritical to rejoice when all things 
seem suggestive of the opposite? Is not such 
rejoicing sham and pretence? By no means so, 
when done in this higher understanding with a 
definite purpose. It is not pretence, but sin- 
cerity, earnestness, the true way. It is bring- 



EEJOICE 25 

ing to bear upon the situation the power to re- 
adjust it. Is it hypocritical to row against the 
current? It is determination to use one's God- 
given power and not drift with the stream or 
give in to anything. It is using a higher degree 
of power to overcome a lower. In this rejoicing 
in the Lord one is dealing not with effects, but 
with causes ; not with outward appearance, but 
with inward reality and power. It is a creating 
attitude and activity in which one projects him- 
self beyond the visible into the invisible. It is 
not merely rejoicing in hope ; it is rejoicing in 
faith, and ^^faith is assurance of things hoped 
for, conviction of things not seen.'' It is this 
conviction of things not yet seen that is the 
basis of rejoicing in the Lord. Does one hope 
for anything which as yet has not become mani- 
fest to the senses? Then let him reach over 
into that region of the unseen hoped-for and 
believe that it really is, and let him rejoice in 
possessing it now. This is walking by faith, 
not by sight. One turns on the electricity, when 
he wants light, in order to produce it. So one 
turns on joy and uplifting. He calls it forth, 



26 TOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

brings it into manifestation or expression. 
When one sings, he first has the inner concep- 
tion, and then the expression comes forth. One 
thinks and gets his own view as he speaks. Eli- 
phaz says to Job: ^^When men are cast down, 
then thon shalt say, There is lifting up.'' Hav- 
ing acquainted himself mth God, one can, as 
Job, call the things that are not yet as if they 
were. 

Is it not cruelty, coldness, indifference, heart- 
lessness, to rejoice all the time? Are there not 
times for mourning? We may reply that one 
does not need to give way to grief. It is no 
benefit to any one. Why did Christ, having 
compassion on the widow at Nain, say, 
*^ Woman, do not weep''? Surely, if grief were 
God's will and had been good for the widow, 
Christ w^ould not have said and done what he 
did. His work on that occasion was what it 
has always been, the saving or delivering of 
people out of their griefs and troubles and 
bringing them to joy and happiness. 

To overcome grief, retire into the inner sanc- 
tuary of your own being and pour out your soul 



REJOICE 27 

there before God, not in loud lamentations, but 
in the language which he who sees and hears in 
secret can understand best, the language of the 
heart. Let your fasting be out of sight of 
others. We can rise superior to any experience 
that may come. It is not indifference or apathy, 
but the recognition of God and his power rather 
than recognizing any other. No one else can 
comfort as he can. The widow at Nain had no 
reason to weep ; but if she had known, she had 
reason to rejoice in the Lord before her son's 
actual or manifest restoration. If she had 
known what Christ had in mind to do, it would 
have been easy for her. It is possible for us 
to know what is in the mind of God concerning 
ourselves and our affairs, and so to rejoice in 
him. 

One must use his will intelligently. This does 
not mean using one's will-power as this has been 
thought of by perhaps most people. The will 
is often used most unintelligently and proved to 
be a poor reliance. A potent way to use the will 
intelligently is to speak the word. The centu- 
rion who sought Christ for the healing of his 



28 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

servant had the right idea: ^^ Speak the word, 
and my servant shall be healed.'^ He could 
command his servants, and they would obey; 
so Christ, he perceived, having authority, could 
command healing. So he did; and nature, too, 
obeyed his word. He said that whosoever 
should speak to the tree or to the mountain, and 
believe, it should obey. This is speaking the 
word. Speak your word in this way: ^^I will 
rejoice. I will not give way to any negative or 
undesirable thing. I will master. Thanks be to 
God who gives me the victory.^' Nothing can 
resist such a claiming according to the method 
of him who gives authority. It is the practical 
application of his teaching and method, bring- 
ing to bear upon all situations the infinite 
power of God. 

Cultivate rejoicing in the Lord and because 
of him. Let him be the ground on which you 
rest your rejoicing. It will then be irresistible. 
Rejoice right in and through everything that 
confronts you. Use rejoicing as your instru- 
ment or means to effect results. Overcome 
everything in this way. Let nothing put you 



REJOICE 29 

down. At all times and all the time rejoice, 
and right through everything. You can be calm 
and steady, enduring as seeing the invisible 
One. It is easy to be bold when you realize 
that you have God backing you in everything. 
With such resources as his always at hand, fear 
or hesitation is ridiculous. 

The first step is to assume, or take to one's 
self, joy; to put it on as a garment, saying 
**Joy'' and ^^Eejoice'' till one's whole being 
vibrates and reverberates with the idea. Then 
he must keep at it, until his circumstances so 
vibrate and reverberate ; keep at it until all who 
come near him catch the same keynote and vi- 
brate in harmony. When one strikes one key 
of the piano with unmuffied strings, the whole 
instrument catches the vibration and rings in 
harmony. So, as one person rings true to the 
Infinite, he wakens all humanity to harmoni- 
ous vibration, and the music of human life is 
brought out in greater sweetness and power. 



II 

THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 
"The Lord Is at hand/' 

WHETHER Panl meant Christ or God 
makes little difference to ns, so far as 
onr study of the way of life and of happiness is 
concerned. If we were merely interpreting his 
words to ascertain what he had in mind and 
wished to convey, it would be important to de- 
cide the meaning and reference of "the Lord.'' 
Our purpose, however, is not merely exegeti- 
cal ; on the contrary, it is to get out of the words 
the suggestion which they may afford. 

There is nothing to hinder our seeing in these 
words even greater meaning than Paul saw 
when he wrote them, a fulness of meaning 
greater than at first appears. Their value to 
us is what they mean to us; and this is not 
limited to what the writer had in mind, but it 

30 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 31 

extends also to what they suggest to us, what 
they set us to thinking and doing. Often the 
suggestion of a passage is greater than the 
strict meaning of the words. While one reads, 
if he watches himself closely, he will find that 
some passages seem to have a meaning which 
the printed page does not show. A reader often 
gets from what he reads much that the writer 
did not have in mind at all. So also a hearer 
gets more of personal value to himself than the 
speaker means by the words that he speaks. 
The suggestion and the awakening may be more 
than the actual meaning of the words. This is 
where the Holy Spirit's work is especially mani- 
fest. Read Peter ^s address at Pentecost and 
that after his healing the man at the gate of 
the temple. What struck the people with such 
power that the church had thousands added to 
its members at once? The addresses were sim- 
ple, the mere story of the Christ. The results 
were all out of proportion to the apparent 
cause; but the Holy Spirit, through the awak- 
ening of suggestions in the hearers, produced 
the marvelous results. 



32 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

One Sunday, in the course of his sermon, a 
pastor spoke in a certain way the words, ^^Not 
yet/^ A member of that church, a business 
man, felt the effect of those two words in con- 
nection with some important matters in his busi- 
ness, and they led to the solution of perplexing 
problems that had for some time weighed heav- 
ily upon his mind. The pastor knew nothing 
of what was taking place in his listener, nor did 
any one else in the church. The suggestion and 
application of the words were greater than the 
statement in which they occurred. To the hearer 
they had a special meaning which the speaker 
did not have in mind at the time. 

The suggestion and helpfulness of Paul's 
words are great. That God should be near at 
hand is not strange, since he is omnipresent; 
and that he who said, ^^I am with you all the 
days, even to the consummation of the age,'' 
should be at hand manifesting himself as he 
promised, is what we should expect. That the 
Infinite should reveal himself to the finite being 
whom he created in his own likeness comes to 
us as an inference from the very fact of that 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 33 

likeness. Because human beings are alike, they 
are drawn into social relations. The affinity of 
man to God accounts for man's natural crav- 
ing for the society of the Infinite and his never 
being satisfied until he has found and realizes 
this supreme requirement of his being. So the 
assurance of the nearness of this Being is and 
must be full of suggestion and help. 

1. The words suggest that, if the divine Being 
is at hand or near, it is possible for us to realize 
this presence and receive benefit from it. Al- 
ready the way to realize the presence has been 
partly explained. Go away by yourself in some 
place in which you will be without interruption. 
As God is a spirit and man is like him, it must 
be in the spirit that communion and realization 
must take place. That about one which thinks, 
feels, and wills is the spirit, the essential self. 
The higher sensibility through which the con- 
sciousness of God is possible is finer than the 
five senses through which we become conscious 
of external objects ; and incidentally we may re- 
mark that the higher sensibility is more reliable, 
because it brings to our knowledge absolute 



34 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

truth and is never mistaken. One is not mis- 
taken in what he perceives through intuition. 
One may question whether he sees a real scene 
or a mirage, or whether any phenomenon per- 
ceived by means of the senses is a reality ; but 
he can not question the reality of himself. The 
self is known by means of intuition; and Grod 
is known by means of the same. 

Withdraw your attention from the senses, and 
get just as still in your mind as you can. Let 
down and let go; let yourself stop thinking as 
nearly as possible. No one can stop the mind^s 
action; but, just as one can close his eyes and 
concentrate upon hearing, so can he withdraw 
attention from one way of perceiving and con- 
centrate upon another. Do not try force, but 
repose. Hold yourself in a receptive attitude 
and let the realization come to you, let the di- 
vine inflowing take place. If you go to sleep, 
it will not be strange, for the suspension of con- 
sciousness in hoth is similar ; but presently you 
will make a turn, and when you withdraw atten- 
tion from the senses you will find a higher activ- 
ity attracting your attention and upon this you 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 35 

will concentrate. In sense-perception, we are 
passive to external vibrations, as of sound ; and 
we are active in taking in and understanding 
them. So, in this higher perceptive power, we 
are passive and receptive to the vibrations or 
emanations from the Infinite, and active in tak- 
ing them into ourselves so that they become our 
own ideas, feelings, and purposes. Practice in 
this line makes it easy and delightful, and, if 
necessary, it becomes expeditious. It can be 
very quick. 

2. Again, the words suggest that, if God is 
near, we have reason to rejoice; for when one 
realizes the presence and fulness of the supreme 
want of the soul, there can be no place or time 
for anything but joy and rejoicing. The very 
ground and condition of all happiness and satis- 
faction is present. Besides, as one rejoices in 
the Lord all the time, he keeps the conscious- 
ness of God as a permanent state, a ceaseless 
experience. 

3. Still further, since the divine presence is 
an assured fact, there can be no reason for anx- 
ious thought of any kind. Is not the Creator 



36 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

and Euler of the universe right here ? It is not 
as if God were off in the heavens and had to 
come to onr assistance when we call, or things 
might go wrong in his absence. There is no 
absence of God in fact; what has seemed his 
absence is only man's not recognizing him. The 
sun always shines ; but the earth turns now one 
side and now the other towards the sun. It is 
our turning our thought from God that makes 
it seem as if he had turned away from us. The 
true ground of complacency and trust is the con- 
sciousness of God as a living reality. If we will 
only dwell upon this sublime fact, hold our at- 
tention upon it, until we have concentrated the 
entire energy of the spirit upon it, we shall 
experience a sense of repose and security which 
nothing else can produce. God right at hand, 
Oronipotence surrounding and filling us as the 
air surrounds and fills us. Where can be dan- 
ger or difficulty? 

In this secret communion with the Father we 
receive that recompense which satisfies. Here 
is the secret of true inspiration. As you place 
yourself where the sun shines upon you and in 



T^E CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 37 

you, lighting and warming you; so place your- 
self where the Being who is infinite wisdom and 
love may pour into your entire being the illu- 
mination of the Spirit, the divine and life-giving 
warmth of infinite love. Faith is this suscepti- 
bility to the Spirit's action; so it is easy to see 
how the marvelous works which have been called 
miracles are attributed to faith and are said to 
be done by means of divine power. In this atti- 
tude of complete susceptibility, that power finds 
no resistance in one, and he becomes a conductor 
of divine power. 

When one seeks this spiritual communion and 
becomes susceptible, the first experience may 
be accompanied by disturbance of mind, body, 
and circumstances. Should this be your experi- 
ence, be assured of this, thai the power that is 
working in you is bringing things into harmony 
in you ; and so these outward and inward disturb- 
ances are the obstructions being removed, the 
jarring and the tearing loose of whatever does 
not conform to the higher power. Soon all be- 
comes harmonious. The brook is disturbed 
where it flows over obstructions. What are the 



38 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

obstructions in one ? Such things as are called 
doubts, distrust, fears^ set opinions, prejudices, 
and unwillingness. Willingness is a great help 
to all advancement; a conductor of all good. 
Through this its perfect manifestatioij takes 
place. 

If you look at your New Testament, you will 
find that where it reads in the text ^^ coming'' it 
reads in the margin *^ presence.'' The word in 
the original does often refer to the presence of 
one coming; but its primary meaning is ^^ being 
by or near," and so, ^^ presence." It is the re- 
alization of the actual being beside or by one 
that constitutes the consciousness of God which 
makes rejoicing easy and anxiety impossible. 

The constant practice of getting this realiza- 
tion of the divine keeps life perpetually full and 
bounding. Make a practice of this silent com- 
munion every day and many times a day. It is 
well to take an hour in the morning, even if one 
has to get up early to do so. It is better rest 
and recuperation than sleep; because sleep is 
natural, and this rest and this restoration are 
supernatural. Sleep is an unconscious surren- 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 39 

der to the vital contact with the Creator; this 
silent commnnion is conscious surrender to the 
inflowing of eternal life. The former is natural ; 
the latter supernatural. Since the very nature 
of God is spirit, and man is created like him, 
nothing can be plainer than that all communion 
between God and man must be in spirit and 
reality. It is therefore necessary to retire into 
the secret chamber or inner sanctuary of one's 
own spirit where he is in vital contact with the 
infinite Spirit, if one is to realize God as pres- 
ent, if he is to be led by the Spirit of the truth 
into all the truth, if he is to realize the coming 
of the risen Christ, if he is to experience the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit. We must get still 
outside and inside, relax from all tension and 
strain. As we suspend consciousness of the 
outer, we awaken consciousness of the inner and 
concentrate upon it. 

It must not surprise us, if, when we first at- 
tempt this silence, and even for some time, it 
seems as if our thoughts are all in a riot, and 
that they are more noisy and tumultuous than 
we have ever known them to be. It is only that 



40 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

we are now for the first time looking into a re- 
gion of our being which we have not known, and 
we have not before known what was going on 
there. Now we mnst learn that divine presence 
which brings to ns the peace of God which will 
keep our heart, all this region into which we are 
looking, and all our thoughts, all these activities 
that seem so riotous, bringing all into order and 
harmony. If we are going to give ourselves to 
God for direction and power, our entire being 
must be brought under the discipline of obedi- 
ence. If we remain faithful, we shall find all 
this done for us. Paul brings up the same thing 
in speaking of ^^ warring and throwing down 
reasoning and every high thing that is exalted 
against the knowledge of God, and bringing 
every thought into captivity to the obedience of 
the Christ.'' Victory must begin right here, in 
one's self. 

While one is in this state of inward spiritual 
concentration, in this secret room, a strong sense 
comes^ of Another as present, unseen by means 
of the eye, unheard by means of the ear, and yet 
near; nearer than any external object, near as 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 41 

the self to itself, and known as the self is known, 
with absolute certainty, by means of the intui- 
tion. There is an awakening in one's self of 
intelligence, feeling, and will ; of the entire being 
as spiritual and like God; and the effect is be- 
yond description. It is the consciousness of 
God, the realization of his presence ; it is union 
and fellowship with him, the Spirit of the truth 
guiding into all the truth. 

When in the silence of the spirit we speak 
our words, we should let their meaning and sug- 
gestion linger in the mind, and let a real sense 
of the unseen come to us in power. This is feed- 
ing on the word, assimilating its substance ; and 
the word becomes flesh in us, entering into our 
very life and blood and muscle. It becomes 
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and does 
not merely become our settled thought and be- 
lief; and further still, it extends to circum- 
stances and to all our relations with people 
and things. So, if our word is ^^ rejoice" and 
everything else uplifting, cheering, encourag- 
ing, strengthening ; and if all this is based upon 
what we surely know to be true, we shall have 



42 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

joy, happiness, and satisfaction upon a scien- 
tific basis, indeed, upon an eternal basis. 

Speak such words as these in the way just 
described: ^^I am now in the presence of God. 
Father, fill me with thine o\mi thought and love, 
and inspire me with thine own purpose and 
power. I thank thee. Now I am thinking the 
thoughts of God, as the Spirit guides me into 
all the truth. I am moved with divine motives 
and emotions. I am determined upon the right 
course, and I have received power to pursue it 
to victorious achievement. I feed on the bread 
of life, and I drink in divine life and truth." 
Speak these words slowly, thoughtfully, con- 
scientiously; and let their meaning and sug- 
gestion permeate you and become your own 
thought. Keep yourself in the spirit of these 
words for an hour, and then go to your work. 
It will surprise you to see how everything seems 
to fall into line and all things vibrate in har- 
mony with your own thought as you have set 
it going in that hour in which you touched the 
chords of the deep movements of the spirit 
and of causation. 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 43 

There is a rhythm of harmony which means 
spiritual realization, mental development, health 
of body, success in undertakings, and that gen- 
eral welfare of all things which we call pros- 
perity. If we can for five minutes every day 
touch that rhythm, we shall realize that which 
we are seeking. There is a region of our being 
in which all is perfect, a region of spiritual per- 
fection, of health, happiness, and prosperity, a 
region of peace. It is beyond the storms and the 
violence of human events. This has been called 
heaven, because it is higher than the ordinary 
plane or sphere of human life as people in gen- 
eral have lived. Only one has lived fully in this 
state as a man, the Christ, the ideal Man. Here 
are the true wealth and success and everything 
else that we can desire, and it is our privilege 
to live now in this sublime state, in perfect free- 
dom. 

It might be thought by some who consider 
themselves very busy that they can not spare 
the time to abandon all thought of business and 
let down from the cares of the day, especially 
during the hours of business. But it will be 



44 YOUR RIGHy TO BE HAPPY 

found not only possible, but also profitable, and 
soon a necessity of successful business life. It 
is found that many of the most prominent men 
of business, those who are busiest with great 
and multitudinous affairs, are following this 
way and they owe their success to it. It would 
surprise many people to know the number of 
prominent persons who have learned and are 
applying this method. 

Does the mechanic lose time when he stops 
his work to sharpen, adjust, and set in shape 
his tools? Is it losing time when one suspends 
action to see how best to direct his action? Can 
the mechanic afford not to take time to sharpen 
his tools ? Can he do good work without it ? To 
let down from business and get near to God, 
to realize his presence, is to sharpen and adjust 
one's tools, is to direct his action in the best 
way. Why stop to eat and drink? Is it not to 
get nourishment, so as to be able to do one's 
work? Equally necessary for the highest effi- 
ciency is taking nourishment into the essential 
man, feeding on the bread of life, drinking in 
the very life of the ideal Man. 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 45 

It is in the silent intercourse of the finite 
spirit with the infinite Spirit that all this takes 
place. In the consciousness of God as present 
is also the consciousness of that inflowing from 
the divine of the life-current which the blood 
symbolizes. We receive now the same physical 
life and power which have been promised after 
death; and as we receive it into ourselves we 
receive the resurrection life and power which 
give one supernatural and superhuman effi- 
ciency. The business man, the professional 
man, the successful man in any line of action, 
the person in any walk of life, can make use of 
this most potent means of gaining and accumu- 
lating energy, and not only not lose time by it, 
but also gain not only time but results far tran- 
scending any that might be otherwise obtained. 

Professor Phelps admirably says: ^^It has 
been said that no great work in literature or sci- 
ence was ever wrought by a man who did not 
love solitude. We may lay it down as an ele- 
mental principle of religion that no growth in 
holiness was ever gained by one who did not 
take time to be often and long alone with God. 



46 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

'This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fast- 
ing. ^ In no other way can the great central idea 
of God enter into man^s life and dwell there 
supreme.'' 

This love of solitude, whether one realizes it 
or not, is love of the divine presence. In that 
state in which one thinks that he is alone, and 
his best thoughts come most easily to him, he 
is especially susceptible to the action of the infi- 
nite Mind upon him. He has thought that by 
getting away from people and affairs he has 
been able to think better, and has regarded the 
thoughts and purposes that have seemed to well 
up from a secret fountain in his own mind as 
originating in himself; but he has merely been 
thinking God^s thoughts, letting the inflowing 
from the Infinite fill and inspire him. Kepler, 
studying the heavens and receiving into himself 
that divine inflowing, suddenly exclaimed as he 
noted the grand conceptions that were filling his 
mind, ^'Oh, God! I think thy thoughts after 
thee!'' Dorner, the famous theologian, says: 
'^We think God through God." This is the 
true secret of originality and the source of 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 47 

genins. This is the secret source of all growth 
and development. One must ^Hake time to be 
often and long alone with God/' Every one has 
time for what he really wants and loves to do. 
When one does not do, it plainly shows that he 
does not wUl to do. 

It is coming to be seen, and it is certain to be 
seen with increasing clearness and force, by 
business ifien and by other persons of thor- 
oughly practical views and methods, that the 
teachiQgs of Jesus Christ are the soundest prin- 
ciples of practical business and of all other re- 
lations of mankind. Nothing better could be 
imagined as a practical guide to successful and 
satisfying life than the Sermon on the Mpunt. 
When the mist of ecclesiasticism and sancti- 
mony which has hung over these matchless 
words shall have be$n burned away as the day 
of true enlightenment advances to noon-tide 
glory, their meaning and worth in practical, 
every-day living will come with irresistible 
power to people of all classes. Not religion or 
science or philosophy did he teach; but life, 
practical, abundant, eternal, was the object of 



48 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

his coming and teaching and work. ^^I came 
that they may have life, and may have it abun- 
dantly/' He said nothing about religion. Not 
once is the word recorded of him. The entire 
life is to be from God and in God and for God. 

Some one has beautifully said: "^^ Cheered by 
the presence of God, I will do at the moment, 
without anxiety, according to the strength which 
he shall give me, the work that his providence 
assigns me. I will leave the rest, it is not my 
affair. '^ How fully these words put before us 
the consciousness of God as the inspiration of 
life and action, as the true secret of the most 
eminent success. Here is no feverish excite- 
ment, no irritating ambition, no burning rest- 
lessness and smarting under circumstances, no 
anxiety as to results or the judgment of man- 
kind. Is not this our Longfellow's idea of suc- 
cess, to do one's own work in whatever sphere 
he may be, without one thought of praise or of 
blame? 

Life is lived moment by moment; success is 
achieved moment by moment. As one does in 
the wisdom and the strength of God imparted 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 49 

to him the work that the divine providence as- 
signs him, he can not fail to achieve results 
which tell forever in the advancement of man- 
kind. 

You may have had hard luck, as the world 
counts luck. You may be feeling '^down/' and 
as if every man^s hand is against you, and that 
every attempt that you may make will prove to 
be a disappointment and failure, just as so many 
things have done before. Do you know that you 
are facing towards zero, and that everything 
will seem to be bearing you downwards towards 
nothing, unless you change the action of your 
mind? You have got down under the situation, 
instead of getting above it and mastering it. 
You are letting the Juggernaut car run over 
you, instead of getting into it and riding. It 
can be your destruction or it can be your means 
of escape and safety, just as you get under it 
or upon it. 

Go by yourself alone with God, determined 
that you will have this mental current turned in 
the right direction. Face away from zero or 
nothing towards infinity or all there is. Declare 



50 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

yourself a child of God, and claim your birth- 
right of freedom. Success is yours ; and when 
you face in that direction, beginning with rejoic- 
ing and realizing the divine presence, a turn will 
come in your affairs, as the turn in your mental 
state, and greater success than you ever dared 
to imagine for yourself will surely come to 
yon. 

, The causative movement of mind which 
shapes the body and the circumstances has long 
been set in a negative direction. Now, since we 
are coming to understand the higher truths and 
laws, we are making a complete change in our 
thinking and doing, in this motion of spirit, this 
creative or formative energy, and so we are 
changing the condition of body and of circum- 
stances from undesirable to desirable, bettering 
both body and circumstances, because we are 
bringing about harmony or order. A higher 
ideal is being worked out into manifestation. 
This process is changing all the relations of 
things, bringing about a different state of vi- 
brations, and this, to a superficial glance, seems 
as if things were getting worse. This, however, 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 51 

is not true. Things are simply adjusting them- 
selves towards the perfect rhythm. 

^^The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table'' gives 
a curious picture of the breaking up of old and 
settled things, using as his basis of comparison 
the turning over of a stone in the field and so 
revealing the strange things hidden under it, 
the bugs and creeping things, and the grass that 
could not grow. ^^Next year you will find the 
grass growing tall and green where the stone 
lay; the ground-bird builds her nest where the 
beetle had his hole ; the dandelion and the but- 
tercup are growing there, and the broad fans 
of insect angels open and shut over their gold- 
en disks, as the rhythmic waves of blissful 
consciousness pulsate through their glorified 
being.'' 

''There is meaning in each of those images. 
The stone is ancient error. The grass is human 
nature borne down and bleached of all its color 
by it. The shapes that are found beneath are 
the crafty beings that thrive in darkness, and 
the weaker organisms kept helpless by it. He 
who turns the stone over is whoever puts the 



52 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

staff of truth to the old lying incubus^ no matter 
whether he do it with a serious face or a laugh- 
ing one. The next year stands for the coming 
time. Then shall the nature which has lain 
blanched and broken rise in its full stature and 
native hues in the sunshine. Then shall God's 
minstrels build their nests in the hearts of a 
newborn humanity. Then shall beauty — Divin- 
ity taking outlines and color — light upon the 
souls of men as the butterfly, image of the beau- 
tified spirit rising from the dust, soar from the 
shell that held a poor grub, which would never 
have found wings, had not the stone been 
lifted.'' 

Fear is not an attractive power, but rather 
is repellant in its effect. If we try to do busi- 
ness holding in mind fear lest our proposition 
will not be accepted, our very attitude and what 
we say and our tone and manner will awaken 
fear in the one whom we approach. People will 
distrust us, because we distrust ourselves. A 
very successful lawyer remarked that he could 
not plead a case in which he had not himself the 
conviction that he and his client were right. One 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 53 

can not do well when he talks against his own 
conviction ; but when he has the right conviction 
in his own mind, he can be invincible. A man 
of large experience and great success in real 
estate, speaking of certain large deals in which 
he had had part, remarked to me that before he 
approached a party with his proposition he 
would make sure to be in a cheerful and uplift- 
ing state of mind and have a certainty in him- 
self that he was going to accomplish his pur- 
pose. He would never go to see any one on 
business while he was himself downcast or de- 
pressed. Often he would wait several days for 
the right mood. He did not then know that he 
could at the time change his thought and mood 
by going away and communing in the silence 
with the Infinite, and not have to wait days. 

This is the advantage which any one who 
understands this secret of the silence has, that 
he can withdraw and get so into the mind and 
will of God that he will be in the right mood to 
accomplish anything. He can be in a proper 
mood all the time, because it is an inward and 
invincible joy perpetually. His attitude and 



54 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

manner will draw about him everything that 
advances him and his object. He will believe 
in himself and his cause; and this will draw 
others to him and make them believe in him and 
his cause and work. They will want to join with 
him and help him. 

We have all noticed how, when we meet peo- 
ple, we feel the effect of something invisible 
about them, sometimes inspiring, sometimes 
depressing. It has been called an unconscious 
influence, because people are not always, or even 
usually, aware of it. Every person is sur- 
rounded by an atmosphere which is charged 
with his own quality. It partakes of and pro- 
claims his character ; it shows the quality of his 
thought or inner state. One usually does not 
notice or even know this; but now people are 
coming to study its philosophy, and so are learn- 
ing to make this radiation of soul-quality what 
it ought to be by going back to the centre and 
making the soul and its action what they ought 
to be. Consciousness of God does this trans- 
forming work. 

The spider spins and weaves his web and sta- 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 55 

tions himself at its centre to watch what gets 
entangled in it; but he keeps his centre. The 
plant stands in its place and sends forth in every 
direction its sweet perfume. It is because of 
what it is at its centre that it can make attractive 
its atmosphere. 0, if only people would ^^ con- 
sider the lilies, how they grow/^ in this respect 
of surrounding themselves with a bright and 
fragrant atmosphere! One can make it what 
he will. A man whose station in life would 
hardly lead you to suppose that he thought 
much of such things spoke with deep effect in 
a company of the flower that comes up out of 
the ground, and beautifies its surroundings. 

We are all shedding an influence of our own, 
whether we realize or not the extent of these 
influences or radiations. It is not by outward 
and direct persuasion that people influence or 
affect one another. If we always keep in touch 
with God, we shall have the right atmosphere 
ourselves and be free from undue effects of the 
influence of others. 

This is the real secret of what is often called 
personal force. It is an emanation of one's own 



56 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

interior force or power, a radiation of one's 
quality, wherever he may be, and, whether he 
intentionally projects this force for definite pur- 
poses or whether he does not even recognize its 
existence. The educator and the banker radiate 
different qualities, because they are engaged in 
different lines of work, and with different peo- 
ple. They live in different worlds. Some people 
depress you, because they dwell in an atmos- 
phere of failure and discouragement, and they 
keep habitually thinking and talking about such 
things and expecting them. Depressed them- 
selves, they radiate to others depression. Some 
uplift you, because they dwell in an atmosphere 
of happiness and success. They think and talk 
about everything positive and uplifting, and 
expect good things. They stand for success and 
all else desirable. 

It is easy to understand all these things, if 
cfne gives them attention. If you will, you can, 
through the silent communion, make your own 
atmosphere and world, make them what they 
ought to be ; and you can make yourself so posi- 
tive that you will not be affected to any extent 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 57 

by others, whatever may be their mentality. 
Then, from your positive centre, yon will be able 
to minister to them in this region of their being 
in which your help will be most effective. Your 
personal force can be made what you will, and 
it will be telling. It will be a blessing to any one 
whom you meet. Remember this: We can al- 
ways take one of two positions, either the 
helper or the helped. To be always seeking is 
a sign of weakness; to give positive help to 
another blesses both him and yourself. 

Every one who has watched himself at all 
has observed how by repetition a thing is fixed 
in mind and a habit formed. The mind acquires 
facility of action and tends to act of itself along 
the lines of repeated action. If anything starts 
it that way, it tends to go through to completion. 
In this way we can form habits of thought and 
action. Cultivating cheer, it becomes a habit. 
One can set his mind going and train it in any 
way he chooses. The constant suggestion and 
repetition of a thing makes a deep effect upon 
one and tends to make it permanent. 

In this way one can train himself so that when 



58 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

he meets a situation, instead of going down be- 
fore it, that deeper current of thought which he 
has developed in the silent intercourse with God 
lifts him up and bears him over it, master of the 
situation. Thus the trained mind is not swerved 
when it meets a problem. 

If you watch the working of the generators 
in an electric traction plant, you will observe 
the constant motion of the governing apparatus 
as it adjusts the power to suit the constantly 
varying demand for power along the line of 
traffic. So, when the mind gets trained in the 
right way, it acts automatically, adjusting itself 
and its power to the various requirements that 
arise. If we touch something hot, the hand 
draws back before we have time to think about 
it ; so we find that the mind will spring to deal 
with situations at once, without our stopping to 
go away for silence for special direction. Our 
training has put us so in harmony with the 
divine that we are ready beforehand. It is easy 
for the trained mind to deal with problems. 

The effect of all this silent communion and 
training is beyond estimate. One can not be 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 59 

conscious of this divine presence without feel- 
ing delivered from all negative and undesirable 
things; from thoughts, feelings, and purposes 
that do not accord with the divine. One is thus 
bathed in spirit, cleansed from all questionable 
things of mind and heart. It is the washing of 
regeneration, the baptism of the Spirit. On the 
positive side, we are inspired with all good, 
urged to its realization and expression. Spir- 
itually and physically we are free from all hin- 
drance, charged with power that is directed to 
efficiency. 

Consciousness of the Supreme Being as a 
living reality, consciousness of his presence and 
power, is the basis of hope, of cheer, of confi- 
dence, and therefore of success. Nothing can 
depress one whose mind is absorbed in the con- 
sciousness of God. To stay the mind on him 
is to concentrate the attention on this conscious- 
ness. This is the first step in realizing one's 
relation to God, that of loving fellowship, part- 
nership in everything. Can God fail? Can 
Omnipotence get to the end of his resources? 
Can he be anxious, depressed, or discouraged? 



60 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

Association with people of superior mentality 
uplifts and inspires. Association with God lifts 
one to divine realization and to mastery over 
all things. Since man is like God, he should act 
like God. Cheer, keenness, courage, confidence 
— all these are based upon the consciousness of 
the divine as right at hand. One is led or guided, 
and is kept from mistake. No awkward retreats 
are necessary while one follows God. When 
others misjudge and mistreat, the consciousness 
of God who is infinite love upholds, sustains 
and comforts. We see better things coming. 
This enables us to rejoice at all times, all 
the time ; to be in that cheerful and happy state 
of mind which is the very essence of satisfying 
life; to be gracious and gentle toward all, re- 
gardless of what they think, say, or do. It does 
away with violence and harshness in sentiment 
and in action. It banishes all fear and conse- 
quently all anxiety, worry, fret, and doubt. It 
puts out of life and experience all that depresses 
and disturbs. It brings into life and experience 
all that makes life satisfying, because it brings 
God into every moment, into every experience, 



THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 61 

into every situation or problem, into every 
thought, imagination, and action. It makes the 
divine a constant reality, and manifest in every 
situation and condition. It means life, health, 
happiness, success, personal unfoldment, eter- 
nal advancement. 



in 

KO ANXIETY 

"About nothing be anxious." 

THESE words are not opposed to active 
exertion for objects desired, to earnest and 
determined endeavor for the accomplishment of 
purposes and the attainment of ideals ; but they 
put one in the best frame of mind for effective 
action, that state which is most conducive to 
successful endeavor. This statement is opposed 
to faintheartedness, whether it arises from one's 
consciousness of his own inability, from distrust 
of himself, or from want of trust in God. It is 
fear that leads to anxiety; anxiety, to faint- 
heartedness; and faintheartedness, to failure. 
When one knows the truth, he knows that God 
is greater than anything that can arise and be 
called danger, difficulty, or perplexity, ^^ Ac- 
quaint now thyself with him and be at peace; 
thereby good shall come unto thee.'' 

62 



NO ANXIETY 63 

The idea of rejoicing runs through this entire 
passage. No anxiety is to be allowed to disturb 
one^s joy. Consciousness of God does not per- 
mit anxiety. Cultivate confidence in God and in 
yourself as in union and co-operation with him. 
This is true self-reliance, because it is not based 
on one's self as apart from the Infinite, but as 
in union with him; based on God, the eternal 
foundation and the infinite source of all things. 
This self-reliance leads to effective action. 

The nature of anxiety is well known. The 
origin of the word is suggestive, a root meaning 
to chohe. Anxiety is a tight mental state, in 
which one is choked up in his mind and his 
proper mental activity is restrained and con- 
strained under his intensity. Here is distrac- 
tion, the drawing apart or in different direc- 
tions, rather than concentration. In such a state, 
one does nothing, or else he does just what he 
ought not to do. 

The occasions of anxiety are many and vari- 
ous. One may be anxious about his own wel- 
fare or safety, his health, his happiness, his 
business, or his home; about himself or about 



64 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

others; about the past, the present, or the fu- 
ture; about persons, things or events. One 
would embark in an enterprise, but his imagina- 
tion pictures to him obstacles and difficulties, 
and he is afraid to begin, lest he fail. But this 
is just where the turn of success is made. Daniel 
Webster, when he first started in his career as 
a lawyer, felt as if he were utterly incompetent 
and could never succeed ; but he persevered and 
did not run away or give up, and he became a 
most eminent jurist and statesman. Had he 
yielded to that feeling of fear, he would never 
have amounted to anything; but having over- 
come that, all things set in his favor. George 
William Curtis remarked that he never went 
upon the platform to speak without having the 
feeling that he should break down in failure. 
But no one would ever have suspected it; for 
he went forward, regardless of that feeling, and 
so eloquently did he speak that he was called 
the ^^silver-tongued orator. '^ If he had gone 
according to his feelings, he would never have 
spoken or done anything. 
On the eve of great achievement, it is not 



NO ANXIETY 65 

"anusnal to feel the most like failure and impos- 
sibility. Anxiety is a most embarrassing thing 
to have, unprofitable, and hindering rational 
action. It never pays dividends in anything 
desirable. It is this point of apparent collapse 
that is so important in every one^s career. Just 
when failure and disaster seem unavoidable is 
the time to push right on and disregard appear- 
ances. More will and determination put forth 
at that time will turn the tide, and glorious 
results are certain. 

The results of anxiety, worry, and distraction 
are marked and varied. Some are mental, such 
as the scattering of force, rather than concen- 
tration ; unbalancing of judgment ; an unsettled, 
vacillating state, now pushing forward, and now 
drawing back; lack of command of one's self 
and of his abilities and resources. Anxiety im- 
pairs perception of the real situation ; judgment 
as to what should be done ; and will, resolution, 
or determination to do and to master. Some 
results are physical. The anxious mental state 
is shown in the breathing, the circulation, the 
digestion, and various other ways, as well as in 



$6 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

the countenance, the gestures, and the pose. 
The anxious look of the face every one knows ; 
but a little observation makes it evident that 
the face is not the only part of the body that is 
affected by the tight and constrained state of 
mind. Under the fitful action of the mind, the 
body shows out strain, excitement, reaction, and 
depression. So, mentally and physically, as is 
evident, the victim of anxiety is at a disadvan- 
tage, unfit for proper action. 

Some results are in circumstances, both social 
and commercial. Cramped in mind and body 
because of anxiety and worry, distracted, scat- 
tered, and hesitating, one is totally unfit for 
society or for business. He is incapacitated. 
He is never at his best, wastes energy, misdi- 
rects power, and is in a whirl. From a business 
standpoint, anxiety is a poor investment. It is 
expensive in every way. It brings no good re- 
sults, but may lead to disaster. In this |day of 
gigantic transactions, of unheard-of opportu- 
nities and possibilities, of vast capital and en- 
terprise, there is the utmost need of coolness, 
insight, good judgment, and of prompt, bold 



NO ANXIETY 67 

and free action. Decision and perseverance are 
necessary. Anxiety can not be permitted. From 
a commercial standpoint, it must be eliminated 
from one, if he is ever to take his place among 
the great leaders in the commercial affairs of 
the present time. 

It will be seen, if one studies the careers of 
truly successful people, that such persons have 
great self-command and do not allow themselves 
to become anxious over possible adversity, but 
keep themselves facing in the direction of suc- 
cess. With them it is not a matter of what 
might be, if certain things should go to pieces 
or if present plans should miscarry ; on the con- 
trary, it is their thought to bring to bear upon 
the situation every means that can be summoned 
for the purpose of succeeding. It is not a ques- 
tion of expense in this or that particular, but 
of results. Everything goes for the one object, 
the successful result. 

Examples might be shown in great numbers. 
In the midst of a storm, it became necessary to 
lighten the ship by throwing part of the cargo 
overboard; and the owner of the cargo set to 



68 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

work marking the packages with his name as 
an advertisement of his goods. That was facing 
in the right direction, that of success. Where- 
ever those packages might be picked up, he 
thought, they would be excellent advertisements. 
It was a time of disaster and great loss, so far 
as appearances went, and according to the view 
of the vast majority of people ; but here is evi- 
dence that defeat can be turned into victory, and 
disaster into advantage. It all depends upon 
how one thinks about it and takes it. Submis- 
sion to the situation and groaning at the loss 
would have been the usual course of people ; but 
to rise above all that and turn the loss into in- 
vestment was mastery of the situation. Is it 
any wonder that a man who could face such a 
situation and turn what the world calls disaster 
into a means of advertising has achieved a 
world-wide success? that he has hundreds of 
stores in all parts of the world? 

The basis of anxiety is ignorance. If one al- 
ways knew for a certainty that his resources 
were ample for any emergency or requirement 
that might arise, he would have no fear, and 



NO ANXIETY 69 

therefore would not be anxious. It is not know- 
ing what to do, which way to turn, what may- 
be the requirement, and what are one's re- 
sources that makes one anxious. It is more 
imagination than anything else, what might be 
or may be, that makes distraction ; the unreason- 
able eagerness to meet any attack or demand. 
The imagination shapes ^4ife'' and ^^ands,'' dif- 
ficulties which never arise in fact. But doubt 
and distrust are based on such things, and so 
one might as well have real difficulties as imag- 
inary ones; for if one acts on a supposed diffi- 
culty, the results will follow his action, just as 
if based on a real difficulty. Hence hesitation 
and vacillation are uncertain acts of will, based 
on uncertain perception or on imagination. It 
is lack of will intelligently directed. It is not 
asserting that dominion over all things which 
was given to man, but has never been accepted 
and acted upon in its full measure, except by 
Jesus Christ. The true basis of practical do- 
minion is faith in the living God and in one's 
self, a conviction of what is and action based 
upon it. What one believes that he can be and 



70 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

do lie can be and do ; for ^^all things are possible 
to the one who believes/^ 

How to stop anxiety and worry when once 
started must now be considered, as it is very 
important that they be stopped. 

First we must resolve that we will stop, not 
sometime, but now. The way to stop anything 
is to stop it, not to do it, not to think about it, 
not to talk about it. When the thought of any- 
thing about which we have been anxious comes 
to us, we must not let the thought stay, must 
not entertain it, must not think it through, but 
oppose the first suggestion of it. It must be 
dropped out of mind. No strenuous will or re- 
sistance is necessary; but rather, a negative 
attitude — we just do not think it. 

We are to cultivate assuming what we will; 
so we assume, or put ourselves into, a state of 
mind such as we know is best, such as a slate 
of good cheer, by saying, ^ ^Rejoice,'' and then 
voluntarily assuming a joyous expression of 
face, and a joyous manner. We can imagine a 
joyous state of mind, and then act it out, or let 
it come out into expression. It requires no 



NO ANXIETY 71 

force of will to do this, no strained effort We 
can imagine it; and then the natural tendency 
of our entire being is to conform to this image, 
to fall into line according to law, just as the ten- 
dency is to draw conclusions from premises. 
Paul states this in a wonderful manner: ^'We 
all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror 
the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the 
same image from glory to glory, even as from 
the Lord the Spirit.^' It is astonishing how 
one can call forth light in the darkest night. 
One feels the reflex effect, if he voluntarily 
changes the turn of the corners of his mouth; 
and if he holds his head up, he feels more cour- 
age than if he allows his chin to get close to his 
breast. ^^Chin up'' is the word that has helped 
more than one man greatly amid things that 
usually depress people. 

To throw one's self into a sprightly manner, 
to lift up the head and stand erect, to breathe 
deeply and straighten up, — all these have an 
actual and evident effect upon the mind and 
help one. Let us assume that everything is 
right, and act as nearly as we can as if this were 



72 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

manifestly so. It will help to make it manifest, 
because it is a creative, determining attitude of 
mind. The mind tends to repeat or continue its 
action ; so, if one does assume something desired 
as already manifest, repetition and continuation 
of this act of assuming or reckoning become 
increasingly easy, and then a settled habit. The 
outward manifestation of all this is like the pre- 
cipitation of the unseen into the forms of the 
seen, as the gold held in solution in the bath is 
precipitated upon whatever is placed in it for 
plating. 

We must inform ourselves as to our re- 
sources; take an inventory; think of who and 
what we are. In the mind one says : *^ Who am 
I, that I should be afraid or anxious? I am 
more than any situation, more than any state 
or condition. I am master, not slave, of circum- 
stances. No person or thing can put me down 
or dismay me. I am a child of God, and all his 
resources are pledged to aid me. I must not, 
I can not, I will not, fail or be discouraged or be 
anxious.^' He must now act as if he believed 
all this, as if he were convinced in his own mind 



NO ANXIETY 73 

that all this is true. It is assuming what he wills 
to manifest. Presently this creative action cul- 
minates in actual results, the things assumed in 
the mind made manifest in outward form. 

It is not wise to run to this and to that one 
fox advice or assistance. Consult with yourself, 
think for yourself, summon resources from the 
unseen ; act for yourself. When a problem con- 
fronts you, determine to work it out yourself. 
This makes everything interesting. See what 
you can make of yourself and of a situation. 
Get your own view of the situation. Form 
your own plans and act according to your own 
methods. Trust your own judgment and abil- 
ity. If you get the advice of others, you must 
ultimately decide for yourself. Every time you 
think and act independently, you develop your 
own ability and become more fit for larger 
opportunities. Never bury your talent in the 
ground or hide your pound in a napkin. 

*^We fight it out on this line, if it takes all 
summer,^' wrote Grant. He knew the situation ; 
he knew his resources; he believed in himself 
and in his success, he did not worry, was not 



]i yOUE RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

anxious. He had the conviction that right where 
he was would surely be the decisive victory 
which would end the war and settle the destiny 
of the Union. It was the place to stay until the 
event should take place. Time was not an essen- 
tial factor in the problem ; it was the result that 
was all-important, and upon this he concen- 
trated, and this only did he see. To him there 
was but one thing to look at, the purpose which 
he wished to accomplish. If one would over- 
come vacillation and uncertainty, let him settle 
in his mind what he really wants, what is the 
real destination for which he is headed, and let 
him keep his attention upon this, in his mind 
leaping over all that may intervene between his 
present station and that destination. It is often 
amazing to see how the intervening steps are 
taken with little attention or effort. Have we 
not all noticed at times how we seem to reach 
our journey's end so much more quickly and 
easily than we anticipated? 

How to prevent anxiety is as important as 
how to get rid of it. Better to keep out than 
to get out. One should not only get out of the 



NO ANXIETY 75 

old habit of worry, but lie should also keep out 
of it; indeed, no one should ever get into such 
a habit. But now a new habit must be formed, 
that of never being anxious. It is just as easy 
to form the habit of not being anxious as to 
form any other habit. It requires will intelli- 
gently used. When anything looms up in what 
seems to be enormous proportions, threatening 
to overwhelm you, you just loom right up above 
it and realize that you are bigger than anything 
that can arise, because you are in union and 
fellowship with God. *^ Be not afraid of their 
faces ^' was the divine word of old; and how it 
comes with power in this connection ! 

We should never go under or succumb. We 
can draw in our breath and hold it, facing the 
situation. It is suggestive that spirit means 
breath; so we draw in spirit, fill ourselves with 
it. It was when the Spirit of the Lord came 
upon Samson that his supernatural strength 
was realized and displayed. We can say, ^^I 
will not worry yet. I will not give up yet. No 
— not yet. Somehow the way must open.'' The 
instant anything suggests fear, anxiety, or 



76 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

worry, the moment there comes a thought of 
impossibility or of failure, we are to meet it 
with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word 
of God, the Word of truth. We can say, ^^You 
have no power over me. Be gone!'^ This is 
speaking one's word of command which is cre- 
ative power. Moses had to speak his word 
before the sea opened and made a passage for 
him and his people. Christ spoke his word, and 
the storm was calmed. God spoke his word, and 
creation sprang forth. ^^Do you not yet under- 
stand T' Why do you let that mountain stand, 
when your word might send it into the sea? 

We should cultivate the easy way of doing 
things, free from anxiety and strain, constantly 
acting with an inward calm, firm, steady, and 
masterly. We must delay getting anxious about 
work or results. Never do to-day what you 
ought to put off until to-morrow. When you 
almost worry, say, ^^Not yet!'' Put it off until 
to-morrow. The best time to worry is to-mor- 
row; never to-day. Consider the inestimable 
worth of man, of yourself, the child of God. All 
things are for him, and for you. Infinite Wis- 



NO ANXIETY 77 

dom, Love, and Power planned and created all 
things for man who is his own likeness. Think 
of this when circumstances seem supreme. God 
is supreme. Man in his divine likeness is given 
dominion. It is not like God to give in or to 
give up. Though we do not yet see man always 
asserting this dominion, we do see Jesus as the 
great Exemplar, asserting this dominion over 
all things. 

A most excellent and effective way to get rid 
of anxiety and to avoid it is that which Peter 
mentions: ^^ Throwing all your anxiety upon 
him, because he cares for you.'' The moment 
we have an anxious thought, we are to put it in 
God's care, commit it to him — our every anxiety. 
Whatever may come up that can give us any 
concern, we must hand it over to God to deal 
with, for him to work out. He can foresee and 
can manage and adjust things so much better 
than we can, that for us, knowing what we do 
of him and his ways, to allow ourselves to be 
anxious is to display our lack of faith and trust 
in him. We can, in a simple and child-like way, 
ask him to take whatever is troubling us and 



78 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPX 

work it out according to his own way of infinite 
wisdom. TMs does not mean that we shall not 
have anything whatever to do ; but the anxiety, 
the sense of burden, the distraction and fear, 
will all leave us, if we truly leave things aU in 
his hands. He may show us what to do or to 
say, and we must be prompt to obey. We may 
be required to keep our hands entirely off the 
affair. But we shall always find that results 
come about better than if we were managing 
things, and as we look back afterwards and see 
the entire working out of the problem, we shall 
see how much better all has been done than if 
our own plans had been followed. 

The attitude of trust is to be cultivated. All 
things are coming out right; they are shaping 
now. We must believe it, trust it. God is work- 
ing all things together with us for good. Let 
us say so, and then believe that what we are say- 
ing is taking place. Whether we see it, feel it, 
or not, no matter ; we must see it with the mind^s 
eye, and keep it in view that way until we see 
it with the outward eye, and all others see it. 
We must be convinced that it is ; must grasp it 



NO ANXIETY 79 

with the mind's hand and hold fast to it till the 
unseen becomes seen, and the impossible be- 
comes possible. How the divine likeness is thus 
proved I 

Examples of such freedom from anxiety are 
many. Close study of them shows that deliver- 
ance can not fail to come to any who in tight 
places put forth their power in prayer and 
praise, rather than in anxiety, murmuring, and 
complaining. Luther feared no enemies, but 
braved everything, rejoicing in the Lord all the 
time. He was not anxious. History tells of 
many more examples of boldness and freedom 
from fear and anxiety. The soul that trusts in 
God can not worry. While Peter kept his eyes 
on Christ, he did not sink, but walked upon the 
water. It was when he looked at surroundings 
that he sank. No one who keeps steadfastly 
looking upon Christ can sink in any waters. 

People who are in the world and of it may 
have reason to be anxious and afraid, because 
they live on that plane, amid fears and cares. 
They believe themselves subject to surround- 
ings, and keep saying that they are ; and, logi- 



80 YOUR EIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

cally, they act as if they were. Thus they allow 
themselves to be in bondage, and they acknowl- 
edge and even claim their subjection to things. 
According to their belief it is unto them. They 
do not know how to overcome. ^^They are not 
of the world, just as I am not of the world, ' \ said 
Christ of his followers. In him one lives above 
the world, out of that order of things, in the re- 
alization of that victory which he gained. We 
must believe that we have already the victory, 
and then act as if we had it. 

But people on the usual plane of life, the 
natural, as it is called, look to things for deliv- 
erance ; relying on things lower in the scale of 
being than themselves, and do not look even to 
their ovm higher powers. They may well be 
anxious, therefore, in certain situations, because 
they do not recognize the way to mastery; but 
the believer in Christ, never. Anxiety, however, 
will not help any, but mil unfit them to do even 
their own best. The Stoics did, in a measure, 
appear to overcome fear, but they killed out 
joy as well as fear, because they rendered them- 
selves insensible to either. But that was not 



NO ANXIETY 81 

real mastery. Insensibility is not mastery. 
This reminds ns of the ostrich, that hides its 
head in the sand and flatters itself that it is safe 
from its pursuers. The only guaranty of safety, 
security, deliverance, is God and faith in him; 
and the only way to realize this safety is his 
way, which is simple, just to believe that you 
have it. This makes it a fact to you. Then act 
as if you had it, act as one who has it should 
act. 

Those who know the higher life and law, the 
law of liberty, have nothing to fear in all the 
xmiverse. There is nothing in all human expe- 
rience about which they have reason to be anx- 
ious or to worry. No matter what the situation, 
condition, or problem, there is a way out. De- 
liverance is theirs, and they have a right to 
claim it. Egypt, the Red Sea, the Wilderness, 
the Jordan; Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Baby- 
lon — what demonstrations that the living God 
does deliver! To-day there is deliverance for 
all people, for every person; but to make it an 
actual fact of experience, one must believe it. 
That is taking it for himself. Nothing in human 



82 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

experience is ever so bad as it seems. It is 
imagination run riot that exaggerates appear- 
ances; but faith in God restores sound judg- 
ment and brings mastery. 

It may be asked, ''Can one so cultivate the 
will that he can live without worry T' The an- 
swer is, ''Yes.'' Suppose that one is a victim 
of injustice and misrepresentation, and he sees 
their effects upon people all about him, those 
whom he has regarded as friends dropping him 
and avoiding him for no reason, so far as he is 
concerned. The damage is irreparable, and he 
wonders to what extent this is going. Can he 
keep from being anxious? Can he go right on 
living without anxiety? Certainly. "Blessed 
are you when they shall reproach you and per- 
secute you and say every evil thing against you, 
lying, because of me ; rejoice and exult, because 
your reward is great in the heavens.'' Can any- 
thing exceed these words? Eejoice right in and 
through such things ; for in that region of stabil- 
ity, unmoved by human error and misjudgment, 
that region in which absolute truth abides, you 
have a great reward. Your rightness shall 



NO ANXIETY 83 

shine forth, the fact that you are right, and yon 
shall be victor. 

Perhaps this will resnlt in one's being thrown 
out of his present place into that which is in- 
comparably larger and better, and so he finds 
his true environment, work, and destiny. It is 
not until the eagles are pitched out of the nest 
and have to sustain themselves on the trackless 
air that they learn to move in the element for 
which they are destined. Look at the situation 
in which you are, and see whether there is not 
in it a higher meaning than at first appears, and 
that what seems, in ordinary judgment, disas- 
trous is not really the premonition and prepa- 
ration for something greater, higher, and better 
for you. 

Suppose that there is competition, so that 
business seems almost impossible. How can one 
avoid strain? Let him look away from the situ- 
ation, up to God, and let him rejoice in the Lord 
and in his abundant resources. That business 
in which he is engaged, and which seems over- 
done, is not all there is for him. That is not the 
last and only thing in the world for him. Let 



84 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

his appreciation of himself rise to its proper 
level. If he will refuse to be anxious to-day, 
will put it off until to-morrow, he will soon see 
an opening into something that just suits and 
satisfies him. 

Suppose that it is a mental trouble that 
threatens to incapacitate one. Still there is de- 
liverance. The one great fact of Omnipotence 
pledged to help him is sufficient. Suppose that 
it is physical weakness or ailment that makes 
existence a burden and ambition a disappoint- 
ment. Still, anxiety will not help, if indulged 
in, but rather it will intensify the trouble. Any 
observer knows this. God is able and willing 
to deliver out of this, as innumerable cases have 
demonstrated. 

Paul speaks of his own experience of the 
thorn in the flesh. Whatever that was, observe 
that God did not send it upon his apostle, and 
that the grace which was sufficient, or availed, 
for him was not for his bearing or putting up 
with the trouble, but for overcoming it. ^^My 
grace avails for thee.'^ Avails — then it must 
have overcome for him. That divine strength 



NO ANXIETY 85 

which is made perfect in human weakness is the 
supernatural mastering where the natural fails, 
the higher bringing the lower into line with it- 
self. This is deliverance. Then anxiety can 
be put away and kept away, and that which 
might occasion anxiety can be so readjusted 
that harmony and peace prevail. 

PauPs answer to all such questions is the 
same: ^^ About nothing be anxious.'' In the 
Greek, the word translated ^^ nothing'' is the 
first word in the sentence, and therefore is em- 
phatic. We must allow nothing whatever to 
make us anxious or to worry or fret. Such a 
state of mind betrays lack of conunand of one's 
self and of one's resources. We must cultivate 
the art of dropping from the mind what we wish 
to drop, and of concentrating upon what we wisTi 
to concentrate upon. We must let go responsi- 
bility ; drop our burden. 

Practice along that line makes what seems at 
first impossible very simple and easy. We do 
not need to reason about it, but do it. All this 
is within the range of people of merely ordinary 
endowments. Any one can do all that is re- 



86 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

quired. One does not need to be known the 
world over as a saint before he can do this. 
Every one has will enough, but not every one 
uses it properly, scientifically; but every one 
who does use his will intelligently does get re- 
sults which prove untold possibilities. To set 
the will strenuously upon some object and then 
fret lest it may not come out as desired is not 
using the will intelligently. That is what ordi- 
narily is meant by will-power ; but it is a poor 
thing at best. Set your will upon some object, 
and whenever a thought of fret comes, stop the 
fret and turn the same energy that it takes to 
fret upon attaining the object. Anxiety, worry, 
or fret is so much steam going from the safety- 
valve, rather than into the cylinder. Properly 
used, the energy produces desired results. 

As this habit of not worrying is cultivated, 
this habit of composure, complete victory is 
gained over the old way of doing, and the great 
truth that one is to be anxious about absolutely 
nothing becomes clear and settled in the mind. 
One gets beyond worry, into a state in which he 
can not worry, even if he should try. Yet this 



NO ANXIETY 87 

is not apathy or indifference, but it is getting 
so into the higher rhythm of the infinite Mind 
that one realizes that the statements of Christ 
and of those who have followed him are not 
pions cant, not extravagant utterances, but are 
scientific, demonstrable truth, and perfectly 
practical. 

People have read, ^^Let us glory in our tribu- 
lations, knowing that tribulation worketh out 
patience,'^ and they have not perceived the sig- 
nificance and value of PauPs exhortations. This 
is nearer right: ^^Let us glory in our press^ 
ures [such as we meet in every-day experi- 
ence], knowing that the pressure [as we master 
it through faith] works out steadfastness.^' 
This is that pressure which Christ said that we 
have in the world. James speaks similarly: 
^^ Knowing that the proving of your faith works 
out steadfastness. '^ The pressures are the sit- 
uations and problems, the tight places, which 
we are constantly meeting in our relations with 
the world. They are places in which our faith 
is brought into exercise, put to the test, called 
forth into use to meet and to master the situa- 



88 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

tion, and as we solve the problems, holding fast 
in faith to the reality, there is worked ont or 
developed steadfastness, endurance, or con- 
stancy. So, each problem that we find before 
us we are to rejoice in as an opportunity to 
use the divine power and to master. When we 
have a problem before us which calls forth our 
faith to master it, we must master it first in 
the spirit or mind, and then the outer or mani- 
fest follows according to law. We are not to 
bear any undesirable thing, saying that it is 
sent for our good ; but we are to put forth this 
God-given supernatural power and overcome, 
not bear, the thing. *'To him that overcometh^' 
is the constant refrain in the messages to the 
churches in the Eevelation. Faith overcomes; 
it does not submit. ** Where is your faith? ^^ 
asked Christ after he had calmed or over- 
come the storm to which the disciples had sub- 
mitted. 

The best scholar is the one to whom the 
teacher gives the hardest problems, because he 
is able to solve them. We are to glory or re- 
joice, not because something undesirable meets 



NO ANXIETY 89 

us or exists, but we are to glory or rejoice 
right in the pressure of the situation and in 
spite of it, and so master it. "We are to rejoice, 
when such things are met, that we have the way 
to conquer them. We are to hold our right state 
of mind, regardless of anything external, and 
so conquer the external and bring it into the 
shape that suits us, the right and true shape. 
The tool must keep its edge, even though it cuts 
through and carves out what its master wills. 
Materials for building a house are before us 
in heaps ; shall we complain because of this, or 
rejoice that we have them in readiness for con- 
struction, and that we can build as we choose? 
When we learn to meet problems and situations 
in the spirit of joy and rejoicing, with a hearty 
^^I can and I wilP' instead of a weak and 
cowardly ^^I can't,'' we shall be beyond worry; 
we shall rejoice right in our situation and in 
spite of it, thus denying its power over us, 
shedding its apparent effects, rising above and 
mastering it. This is asserting power and 
dominion over things, conquering them, shap- 
ing them as we will. ^^In the world you have 



90 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

pressure ; but do not fear, I have overcome the 
world/ ^ 

The largest business enterprises can be car- 
ried on without anxiety or worry. The great- 
est and most far-reaching causes can be carried 
to triumph without anxiety. The most trying 
ordeals can be gone through without fear or 
worry. The most delicate tasks can be per- 
formed to perfection without anxiety or tight- 
ness, in an easy and masterly manner. The 
penman who writes so perfectly that his writ- 
ing looks like platework does not tighten up or 
tremble with anxiety, but acts with a free hand 
and steady. Take as your watchword, ^* Never 
fret,'^ ''Don^t worry/' ^^About nothing be 
anxious.'' 



IV 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 

*T.n everything by the prayer and the statement of need 
... let your requests be made known unto God." 

HERE is a striking contrast; nothing — 
everything ; anxiety — prayer. If one has 
confidence in God, he is confidential with him, 
not only when difficulty arises, bnt also all the 
time ; not only abont some things, bnt also about 
everything ; not only in what seem great things, 
bnt also in the little things of every day and 
hour. 

The full significance of the words is not 
brought out in our usual translations. ^^By the 
prayer and the statement of need,'' appropriate 
to the occasion, is the meaning. Prayer is ad- 
dress to the Deity, and has reference to the 
form that is used, being a general term, prayer 
in general. The next word is specific in its ref- 
erence, meaning the supplication, petition, or 

91 



92 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

entreaty which expresses what one needs in any 
situation or on any occasion. In it the idea of 
need or requirement prevails; so the word 
means the statement or expression of need, of 
what is required. The definite article brings 
out each separately: sometimes one will use 
prayer in general ; sometimes specific, business- 
like statement of the particular need in mind. 
The word ^^ requests'' means petitions, things 
asked for; the word being used of requests of 
the will, especially asking for something to be 
given. Desires, what one wills, must be ex- 
pressed in some definite form, either aloud in 
audible words or silently in the soul. 

** Prayer is the souPs sincere desire 
Uttered or unexpressed/' 

The heart is to be unburdened by talking 
things out to God, thinking them into definite 
forms as desires or determinations, positive 
choices, decisions, and volitions. We have all 
noticed how, when we speak out what is on our 
hearts, we experience relief from pressure. 
There was once a person who had a practice of 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 93 

writing out, as a letter to a friend, all that 
burdened the heart, and then putting the letter 
into the fire. This always brought the desired 
relief. 

But better than this is telling all to the Father 
in perfect confidence. It is the sure way of de- 
liverance. So, too, it is putting forth power 
to master, and is the way to accomplish. There 
is in such an expression a purifying effect upon 
one's desires. It clears out of the mind all but 
the best and highest. No one knows what he 
does want, until he tries to express it. The en- 
deavor to formulate a desire does actually bring 
it into definite form before his mind. No one 
can approach the Infinite with a questionable 
petition. The very idea of asking from God 
eliminates all that is low and unworthy. 

This is not strange. When one speaks or 
writes, he always finds that he can go over what 
he has said or written and do it better. Bacon 
wrote his famous Essays many times over be- 
fore he published them. Statement of one's 
thought clears out what does not bear search- 
ing examination, and makes one positive of 



94 yOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

what he does think and say. Statement of onr 
need and desire clears ont what is not np to the 
highest standard, and makes us positive of what 
we do want, and enables ns to concentrate upon 
that. Such prayer is power. It is creative. 
^^ Whatsoever you will, ask, and it shall become 
for you/^ God is pledged to answer. Let there 
be no wavering in the mind, but firm and steady 
confidence and expectation, clear, positive, and 
definite. 

**In everything ^^ admits of no exception. No 
matter how great or how small, there is but the 
one way to master what is before us. Whatever 
one^s state of mind, exalted or depressed, he is 
to converse with the infinite Father in childlike 
simplicity and confidence, stating his needs, 
what he requires or desires, and giving thanks 
for the things desired or asked for. Here is a 
mutual friendship, companionship, and con- 
fidence between God and man. It must be in 
everything. It must be about everything. If 
God is infinite love, then there is nothing in 
our experience that does not concern him, in 
which he is not particularly and deeply inter- 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 96 

ested. This applies to every individual. The 
Infinite knows no limitation. 

It must be in every condition of body, every 
degree of health, vitality, and strength; when 
one feels the need of more of these qualities; 
when he notes that improvement can be made 
in any respect. In every situation, wherever 
one may be, however things may seem, whatever 
the circumstances, whether travel, business, 
manufacture, enterprise, or politics, the same 
method applies. ^^In everything by the prayer 
and the supplication,'^ the statement of need, 
appropriate to the occasion, make known to 
God your requests or petitions. 

In business matters, this is the one practical 
method which insures success in the highest 
sense of the word. Let the business man under- 
stand that he has no other resource comparable 
with this. ^^By the prayer and the statement 
of requirement let him present to the Father 
his idea and his plan, and let him in a definite^ 
business-like way state the situation as to a 
partner whose interest in it is intense and whose 
means are unlimited. This partner is not a 



96 YOUR EIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

mere millionaire, but the one Being whose re- 
sources are absolutely without limit. When 
business men learn to follow this way, the world 
will advance beyond the grandest conceptions 
that now come into man's mind. 

The method is simple. Once recognize that 
God is person and man is person, that both are 
in essence rational spirit, that intelligence, love, 
and will are characteristic of both, that self -con- 
sciousness and self-determination are the essen- 
tial characteristics of both, and the method of 
communion between God and man is as simple 
as that between man and man. 

Speech, the putting of the action of rational 
spirit into words, is the method. But speech 
may be either oral or in the mind as the silent 
word, the breathing forth of the spirit. Silent 
communion is often the only kind practicable, 
and is just as effective as oral. But with deeper 
knowledge and acquaintance, closer fellowship, 
a mutual understanding is reached more quickly 
than by oral or by silent words. This is heart- 
talk, spiritual communion, life and thought in 
common. There is no covert plan, thought, or 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 97 

intention; but frankness, openness, perfect con- 
fidence. We all know that we understand one 
another oftentimes before words can be spoken, 
or even a thought formulated in the mind. It 
is a flash of understanding. 

Now, if you close your eyes and shut out the 
five senses, refuse to notice what may through 
them come to your attention, you will be con- 
scious of yourself just the same. That self is 
spirit ; and it knows, feels, and wills, so we call 
it rational spirit, possessed of reason ; it is con- 
scious of itself and it determines its own action. 
Outward appearance does not affect all this 
action of the inner and essential self. You can, 
in that secret region of your being, think, and 
you can send your thought to any one else any- 
where in the world, regardless of space. If 
this is new to you, all will become clear, if you 
will consider that you can think of any one, 
whoever he may be; is it not easy next to see 
that if you think of or about a person, a subtle, 
all-pervasive substance, finer than air, finer 
than ether, conveys your thought of that person 
to that person? You have, undoubtedly, ob- 



98 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

served how some one will be in yonr thought, 
for some reason, and presently you see or hear 
from that person. You were the recipient of 
that one's thought of you as it was borne, io 
you in this subtle medium. 

We do not hear these thoughts by means of 
the ear. We hear or perceive them in that re- 
gion of our being which, for want of a better 
name, we call the inner region of pure spirit. 
This is the region in which we think these 
thoughts; that is, out of this deep region we 
send forth our thoughts, and into this region 
we receive such thoughts from others. In such 
experiences of thought-communication, often 
noticed in dreams which come true, we get 
glimpses of our nature, possibilities, and destiny 
which deeply impress us. What powers of 
social intercourse are yet to be developed! 

Is it not plain now from all this how we are 
to speak to God and be heard, and how he 
speaks to us, and we hear? It is all in the 
spirit. God is spirit and we are spirit ; and our 
mutual communication is in spirit and reality. 
Between us and God passes the flash of mutual 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 99 

understanding, as the lightning passes between 
the clouds and the earth both ways ; and clearer 
than if words audible by means of the ear were 
spoken is the understanding. When the voice 
was heard from the heaven, as Christ said, 
^^ Father, glorify thy name,^' ^^I have both glori- 
fied it, and I will glorify it again, ^^ people did 
not understand it. Some said that it had thun- 
dered; others said, ^^An angel hath spoken to 
him.^^ Jesus said, ^^This voice has not come 
for my sake, but for your sakes.^^ But the deep 
communion of susceptible spirits is not mis- 
understood. A finer vibration than sound, in 
a more subtle element than air, has been the 
medium of communication. In this^ distance 
and time do not enter. 

The Supreme Being, according to all reason, 
is evidently a free and intelligent Cause. All 
creation shows or expresses his thought, feel- 
ing, and will; man^s nature reveals the likeness 
of God and man. God shares with us his ideas, 
his plans, and his purposes; takes us, so far 
as we are willing, into loving confidence. So 
he lifts, inspires, and makes us strong, and 



100 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

brings out our likeness to himself. Christ, who 
was always in full fellowship with the Father, 
could say, ^^The Father loveth the Son, and 
showeth him all things that he himself is do- 
ing.'^ In him the divine likeness was perfect 
and complete, and in us it will be just as we are 
willing to have it. 

The form of prayer and statement of need 
may be that of asking, of commanding, or of 
declaring or claiming, as one nses this power, 
for such it is, the power of prayer, the power 
of spirit. 

One may ask the Infinite to give or to do, 
making his request formally as a petition or 
asking; or he may ask just as the need or re- 
quirement is observed, as the situation evi- 
dently requires, or as the wish or desire comes 
into his mind, telling the details as to a partner 
or to the Father; or it may be as a little child 
in simple trust would ask. This is the method 
pursued usually, it seems, by such wonderful 
demonstrators of this power as Luther, Franke, 
Trudel, Harms, CuUis, MuUer, and others. 

One may, with the consciousness of divine 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 101 

authority, speak to the thing that he wishes to 
go or come, commanding it; he may command 
it to take place or become, thus calling it into 
manifestation or into action, out of the unseen 
into the seen, as God did in creation and as 
Christ did when he stilled the storm. When 
we sing, we call forth out of the unheard into 
the heard; is it strange that we should call 
forth out of the unseen into the seen? The 
universe is so constituted that we may have 
just this power. 

Again, one may, with the understanding of 
the divine plan and agencies, declare or claim 
that the thing required or desired really is, 
because it is in the mind of God and so eter- 
nally is, since God is the basis of all creation or 
manifestation. The universe is so made, and 
God >so intended it, that it is man's stage of 
action and he has power, co-operating with God, 
and shares in the great work of carrying to 
accomplishment the great plan of God. If we 
abide in the Christ and his words abide in us, 
we must know God's mind, and that is why we 
are to ask whatsoever we will or determine, 



102 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

and it will take place or be created for us ; thus 
we become creators. 

Man can act as if he were under natural law, 
in nature and of it, and so subject to those 
laws; or, he can act as if he were above and 
beyond nature, subject to higher or supernat- 
ural laws, and so having dominion over nature. 
Our destiny and real place is the supernatural. 
The former is man's usual life; the latter is 
his true life and what he must come to enjoy. 
The former is the natural or Adamic man, 
psychic or dominated by the soul; the latter 
is the supernatural, redeemed, or Christ man, 
spiritual or dominated by the spirit. This ex- 
plains what Paul means by saying that there 
is a natural body and a spiritual body. "We can 
live and act on the lower plane, the earthly, 
according to the natural and temporal, or we 
can live and act on the higher plane, the heav- 
enly, according to the supernatural and eternal. 
When we use the power of prayer, we use this 
supernatural power and produce supernatural 
results. 

We are to deal definitely with God, in a busi- 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 103 

ness-like way. TMs is merely according to 
reason and good sense, and does not conflict 
with reverence. We are to get a clear idea of 
what we need, and then definitely state that 
need. One reason why onr prayers are not ap- 
parently answered is that they are so vague 
that they can not be resolved into any definite 
request for anything in particular, therefore 
it was not prayer, but merely empty talk. This 
is not business-like, not rational, not reverent 
or even respectful. 

Managers of great corporations, when they 
are to have a meeting with the directors or 
with the president, study the business condi- 
tions, prospects, opportunities, resources, and 
needs; formulate plans, present requirement, 
explain the state of affairs, all in compact and 
pointed shape for presentation and considera- 
tion. Just so should we do in our dealing with 
the Infinite. We are delegated by the Infinite 
to certain specific work, our calling, our com- 
mission, our place in life; and we are to be as 
business-like in this as if we were employed by 
a great corporation. Or, we may consider our- 



104 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

selves as in partnership with God, and our- 
selves as consulting with the senior Partner. 
So George MuUer did. 

One of the great secrets of success in business 
is definiteneS'S of aim and action. Thorough- 
ness of comprehension of the entire situation 
and of details is also of great importance. 
Those who have risen from obscurity to heights 
of power have had these qualities conspicu- 
ously. So also in God's business these are 
equally important. Indeed, is not all business 
God's? Can anything exceed the business- 
like method of Christ in feeding the multitudes ? 
Note the definiteness and the comprehension; 
everything in perfect order and in practical 
manner. 

We are to take counsel with the Infinite con- 
stantly, not as a head of a department in a 
corporation is given a certain policy and then 
left to work out the details, being held respon- 
sible for results ; but in every particular we are 
to confer with the Infinite. We do not have 
to shoulder heavy burdens and responsibilities 
alone. In our business relations with our di- 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 105 

vine Partner, we are to take np every detail, 
for nothing is trivial in his sight. Dare to 
count the thing agreed upon with God as done, 
as an actual fact, though not yet manifest, and 
then proceed. Can you not call the things that 
are not yet as if they were? If God can and 
does so call or speak of them, would you be 
untruthful, if you did so? Can you not have 
that confidence in God and his word and way? 
You invest your money in government bonds 
or even in those of a corporation, and you 
count on your interest as a sure thing ; but you 
base your expectation upon human promises, 
calling the things that are not as if they were 
whenever you count your interest before it is 
due and paid. 

Every day we count upon our fellow man 
and his promises; why should we find it hard 
to count upon God and his promises? Many 
times man^s promises prove disappointing; 
often things counted upon are not forthcom- 
ing; and yet you go right on counting on just 
such promises as have not been fulfilled. Is 
it easier to take such promises and count upon 



106 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

them than to take God's promises and connt 
upon them? We can bring things out of the 
unseen, can share with the Creator in the work 
of carrying on the creation, finishing it, redeem- 
ing it. Nothing can be more fascinating or 
delightful than this fellowship and co-operation 
with the Father. 

Two little boys very much desired new rub- 
ber boots. In the morning they asked their 
grandfather if he would not please give them 
each a pair of rubber boots. He made no reply, 
but went to his business. On his return at 
night, he w^ent as usual to the nursery to see 
the children, and as he opened the door he saw, 
printed on the floor with chalk, these words: 
^^We thank you. Grandpa, for the boots.'' He 
had brought them home with him, but had not 
taken them upstairs; yet the children did not 
know that he had brought them, for they had 
not seen or heard anything to indicate it. They 
had taken the boots by faith. They had believed 
that when they asked they should receive, and 
they did receive. It is for us all to become as 
the little children for faith and simplicity, and 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 107 

then it will be easy for us to take God at his 
word, and when we ask for anything believe 
that we take at the time, and then claim it with 
faith and trnst, expecting to see and handle 
what we have asked for. Can we pnt on record, 
as those little boys did, our thanks for the gifts 
asked for? 

All this is based npon and implies the fact 
that God is a rational spirit, a person in the 
philosophical sense, that is, a being who is self- 
conscious and self -determining. In no way does 
it contemplate address to a thing, to an idea, 
or to an abstraction of the mind. It is dealing 
with an intelligent and free Cause, a Being 
who thinks, feels, and wills, and with whom, 
therefore, man can intelligently and freely deal 
and co-operate. This is immeasurably better 
than one 's denying that there is any God higher 
than himself. It is true that all our work with 
God is in spirit and truth or reality, that his 
revelation of himself is within us ; but that does 
not mean that we are not to distinguish God 
from ourselves and from our own ideas. Such 



108 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

^^new thoTighf as does not so distinguish is un- 
sound thought. 

All this implies, further, that prayer and the 
statement of need, the making of our requests 
known to God, brings results. All is according 
to definite law or rational method, God's law or 
method of doing; for law is but the expression 
of will, the will of the lawgiver. Can we not, 
therefore, study, understand, and apply this 
law of prayer as well and as confidently as the 
law of gravitation or of electricity or of mathe- 
matics, which are all merely God's other ways 
or methods? In the prayer that is properly so 
called, one gets into harmony with God through 
communion with him, gets into his state of 
mind, sees things as he does, conceives of them 
as he does, purposes as he does. As one in this 
way communes with the Father, they both come 
to have thoughts, feelings, and purposes in 
common. 

Is not this what the great Teacher means? 
^^If you abide in me, and my words abide in 
you, whatsoever you will, ask, and it shall be- 
come for you." "When one is in the same essen- 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 109 

tial or spiritual state and action as God, is he 
not abiding in the Christ, and the Christ's words 
abiding in him? And is it hard to see that then 
he has only to ask what he wills and it becomes 
or is created for him? One then knows what 
to say and how to say it, knows the real needs 
which he is to state. In such union with Om- 
nipotence, one can not fail to produce results. 
^*In this is my Father glorified, that you pro- 
duce much fruit, and be my disciples. '' Fruit 
stands for results, what may be produced. 

This is no place for empty words to a mere 
abstraction of the mind, a vague, impersonal 
Something; but for definite dealing with a ra- 
tional Being to whom a rational being can make 
a rational address. The Father, with Jesus 
Christ, was not an idea or an abstraction, but 
a living reality, an actual person to whom he 
spoke and who spoke to him; and there has 
never been another than Christ with such knowl- 
edge of the truth and such demonstration of 
power. Lay before the Father your statements, 
your needs ; bring to bear upon every situation 
and problem his power, and so bring about re- 



110 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

suits which glorify God. But this is not ' ' goody- 
goody^^ religion or sanctimony. On the con- 
trary, it is thoroughly practical and satisfying. 
It is business-like, because it produces results. 
It is scientific, because it is always in accord- 
ance with law, always proceeds according to 
known facts, and cause and effect are always 
manifest and in true proportion. Lincoln was 
a man of prayer. He said that he never de- 
cided a great question of public affairs with- 
out first seeking divine wisdom and direction. 
There is no other way to account for his career 
than to regard it as directed by divine wis- 
dom and made successful by divine power. As 
power is put forth, so results follow. It is 
reliable, worthy of the utmost confidence, and 
thoroughly practical. 

All this accords with the highest understand- 
ing of the truth or reality, with true science, 
philosophy, and religion. It accords with the 
highest reason and the highest experience. 

How prayer is a power is not hard to see; 
for it is the bringing of man's rational powers 
to concentrate upon some object desired. When 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 111 

he so concentrates, he turns to the Infinite and 
draws from that source a greater degree of ra- 
tional and creative power than he has realized 
or employed, and it increases as he so concen- 
trates. Beyond the degree called natural is 
that which is supernatural or higher than the 
natural. Asking, commanding, and declaring 
are methods of concentration and of drawing 
from the Infinite, the finite co-operating with 
the Infinite. This brings out of the universal 
power the particular manifestation of power 
required in any situation or on any occasion. 

It is all according to law, or definite rational 
method, uniform and universal. In it man real- 
izes his onenesss with the Infinite in essence 
and action, in being and power. Belief or faith 
is this concentration; it is persuasion or con- 
viction of what really is before it is perceived 
by means of the senses, and it is such concen- 
tration of creative action that it brings into 
the range of the senses the reality which before 
was beyond their reach. It is a positive state 
and action of mind, of rational spirit. Nothing 
can shake it or resist it. ^^All things are possi- 



112 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

ble to the one who believes/^ All states of 
mind, all situations and circumstances, are sub- 
servient to it. It overpowers all things and 
makes man manifest his union with God. 

What is the effect on character of telling 
God everything, consulting him on all occasions 
and regarding all matters? Is it not weaken- 
ing? Does it not depress? Are we not to do 
all we can ourselves, and when we can do no 
more, call upon God? Are we not thus to cul- 
tivate independence and self-reliance? 

A little thought will bring the answers to 
these questions. Appeal to experience, and let 
this be the test. Let one realize that he has 
come into actual communion with the infinite 
Spirit, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, 
infinite Wisdom and Power; that he therefore 
has divine direction as to what he is to do, and 
has divine power without limit to enable him 
to do what he is directed to do. Can this have 
a tendency to weaken one? to weaken his will? 
to blunt his intelligence? to depress him with 
a sense of dependence? Can it be desirable or 
profitable for any one to try to cut loose from 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 113 

God and be independent of him in whom we live 
and move and have our being ? Those who have 
tried it have met with disastrous results. 

The very fact that we are dependent upon 
the Infinite and derive our wisdom and power 
from him makes us realize that nothing can 
stand before us or baffle us. Does not associa- 
tion with a strong character always lift up and 
strengthen us? It has always been remarked 
that it does. Then association with the Infinite 
must be proportionately uplifting and strength- 
ening, as much as the Infinite surpasses the 
finite. It must develop one beyond anything 
else conceivable. 

Such co-operation with God brings out one^s 
own thought, and as he states it before God, he 
finds that falsity falls away and the truth comes 
forth, his own thought becomes clear. His feel- 
ings and his will are brought into unison with 
God's. He finds himself brought into the great 
thought and the life of the Infinite. So it be- 
comes evident that the preaching of the Christ, 
*' Change your thought, for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand,'' is not sanctimony, is not 



114 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

religion, but is practical life, and it is pro- 
foundly significant that there is no record of 
his using the word religion, but often the word 
life; "1 came that they may have life, and have 
it abundantly.^' Life more abundant and life 
satisfying and eternal he came to bring man 
to realize and enjoy, here and now and always. 
In this way are developed insight, under- 
standing, in all clearness and fulness; right 
ideals, correct motives; will, both as proper 
and right choice and as strong and persevering 
volition. With this consciousness of the In- 
fijiite and of power from that source, one has 
certainty of success. This is true self-reliance, 
self-assertion, and self-denial; for one denies 
that he is a self separated from the Infinite, 
because the finite can not exist apart from the 
Infinite; asserts his divine selfhood or Christ- 
hood, and relies upon himself as like God and 
in union with him. Do everything mth the 
consciousness of divine direction, approval, and 
help, and you will grow in confidence and power. 
You will know what ^Helling everything to God'' 
does for one. 



PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 115 

In all this, prayer is brought before us as 
a positive and practical power in the universe, 
applicable to every situation and condition. 
It is a definite and practical way of bringing 
power to bear upon the situation, upon the 
every-day needs of every person. It is the only 
way to life that satisfies and abides forever. 



THANKSGIVING 
'With thanksgiving." 

THE fifth point in Paul's direction for 
right living is Thanksgiving. Our life 
and work are to be all in loving fellowship and 
partnership mth God, the Father and the child 
living and working together. In everything we 
are to consult with God. 

These principles were all taught by Christ. 
Study his words, and you will see how con- 
stantly the ideas of joy and rejoicing come up. 
^^Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may 
be filled full.'' Study his acts, and see how 
often he rejoiced and gave things. At the tomb 
of Lazarus, he said : ' ' Father, I thank thee that 
thou didst hear me.'' On many other occasions 
we find him praising and thanking the Father, 
as when it is said: '^In that hour he rejoiced 

116 



THANKSaiVING 117 

in the Holy Spirit and said, I praise thee, 
Father, Lord of the heaven and the earth, that 
thou didst hide these things from the wise and 
prudent, and didst reveal them unto babes/' 

There was not an anxious hour in his career. 
Even in Gethsemane and on Calvary he was 
not anxious. His constant consciousness of the 
Father ^s presence, the consciousness of God, 
and his communion with him prevented any 
possibility of anxiety or fear. He who said of 
those who were crucifying him, ^^ Father, for- 
give them, for they know not what they do," 
showed no anxiety or fear, but only forgiving 
love. He proved what man can do, if he dwells 
always in the full consciousness of God ; for, 
whatever may be one's view of him, as to his 
divinity, he was as a man among men, and as a 
man he spoke and acted; as a man in living 
union with God, as every one should be and 
can be. In this way he brings out the glory of 
humanity. 

Accompany your prayers and your requests 
with the giving of thanks. It is a simple and 
natural thing to do. It is a common courtesy 



118 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

or politeness. It is a curious thing that it seems 
easier to be polite to a stranger than to persons 
of one's own household. The endearing rela- 
tions of home ought to make politeness there 
easy and delightful. Why should one not be 
as courteous and polite to his own family as to 
outsiders? Why should one not be as polite 
and courteous to God as to man? Must we be 
told to say *^ Thank you'' in our dealings with 
our Father? 

Give thanks for things received and ask for 
more. God never draws the line and says, *^No 
more for you." He glorifies himself in giving 
more. Love is self-giving, and so infinite love 
is infinite, boundless, unlimited, self-giving. 
^^Ask, and it shall be given unto you." Shall 
be, not *^may be." It is a universal fact. If 
we ask anything according to his will, accord- 
ing to his way, method, or law of prayer and 
stating of need, he hears and answers us, and 
we have what we have asked for. 

Yet many do not take or accept, even though 
it is given to them; and so many say that their 
prayers are not answered* They do not do their 



THANKSGIVING iW 

part; for they do not believe that they have 
taken or received what they have asked for, and 
so they do not give thanks for it. Taking what 
is asked for and given is all-important. We 
must never say that a prayer is not answered ; 
but say that the answer has not been taken 
when given, because it was not looked for or 
expected. We must learn to take, to believe 
that we have received, what we have asked. 
This is taking by faith, and claiming that we 
have. Seeing is not believing. We must be- 
lieve in order to see. To give thanks is to 
acknowledge that we have received* 

We can learn to give thanks for what we 
believe that we have received as easily and con- 
fidently as for what we see that we have re- 
ceived. But the glory of faith is in the former, 
while the latter is commonplace. The former 
is co-operation with God in causing what we 
will; the latter is not causative. The one is 
eternally progressive, unfolding, becoming; the 
other is, has become, has taken place, is all 
that it will ever be. 

No draft on God can ever be too great. In- 



120 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

finity can never be overdrawn. Supply is infi- 
nite, because it is of God; demand is always 
finite, limited, can be expressed in measure. 
Even our mathematical infinity is not strictly 
infinity, because creation is finite. If only we 
could believe this great truth that God is ab- 
solutely without limit, we should never think 
in any situation that the end had come, but we 
should rise into the higher realms of power 
and from this region bring down to the situa- 
tion all that might be required. 

Giving of thanks is the recognition of the 
giver or the doer, acknowledgment of the favor 
received, expression of appreciation; the grace- 
ful thing for a grateful person to do. It opens 
the recipient to greater receptivity, and he is 
more ready to take greater things, more ready 
to ask for them. The higher one climbs, the 
more he sees; so the more one gets into this 
partnership with the Almighty, the more his 
vision enlarges and his ability and efficiency in- 
crease. The ungrateful soul puckers itself and 
shuts off that experience which enlarges as the 
abundant supply of God is realized and enjoyed. 



THANKSGIVING 121 

Thanksgiving opens the giver or doer to greater 
gifts or deeds. It makes mnch difference in 
one^s willingness to grant favors, if those al- 
ready granted have been received with thank- 
fulness. The effect of the thankfulness of the 
recipient is to open the heart of the giver or 
doer to give or to do more. A closer fellowship 
results in mutual confidence and regard. Both 
giver and receiver become more open to each 
other. 

But this is not mere form, a set rule, like 
giving thanks at table or perpetually repeating 
^^ Thank God'^ at every turn. The soul on fire 
with love to God because of personal acquaint- 
ance and fellowship with him, having learned 
that he is a lovely Being, finds a joy and satis- 
faction in every act of fellowship and com- 
panionship with the Infinite. Love finds no 
difficulty in acknowledging favors ; and does not 
wait for mere forms, or give thanks in a per- 
functory manner or from a sense of duty. 

Nor do we stop here. Our investigation of 
principles pushes us beyond, and into the depths 
of divine action, into the very life and thought 



122 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

of God; and again, it brings to light the secrets 
of hnman action. One of the most prominent 
parts of the teaching of Christ is that which 
is usually called prayer. It is the active and 
practical part of his teaching, bringing us at 
once into living contact with the original Cause 
of all things and into practical and efl&cient con- 
tact with situations and things and people. It 
may be called the spoken w^ord, when it has 
reference to prayer as a power as distinguished 
from prayer as address to the Deity and as 
worship. It may be called dealing directly with 
the First Cause. It brings us immediately into 
the realm of causation, the place of power. It 
is really the practical living in accordance with 
the great principles of life which Christ taught. 
It is the abundant life which he declared that 
he came to bring to his followers. 

How did Christ do those works of power 
recorded of him? He was in living contact with 
the Source of all power. ^^The Father dwell- 
ing in me does his works.'' It is the privilege 
of every one to do such works as Christ did; 
for the disciple or pupil proves himself such 



THANKSGIVING 123 

by doing as the teacher does. Is it possible 
for one to be a disciple, to be learning of his 
teacher, and yet not do or practice what he is 
taught? ^^The one who believes on me, the 
works that I do shall that one do also, and 
greater than these shall he do." 

Some of the great statements of his teach- 
ings are these: ^^If ym abide in me, and my 
words abide in yon, whatsoever you will, ask, 
and it shall become for you/' This word ^* be- 
come'" is the same one that is used in the be- 
ginning of John's Gospel to tell of creation: 
^^All things through him became." If we abide 
in the Christ, and his words abide in us, our 
will becomes a creative power; we have only 
to ask, and things become or take place, they 
are created for us. ^^Have God's faith; surely 
I say to you that whosoever shall say to this 
mountain, Take yourself up and throw your- 
self into the sea, and shall not be at variance 
with himself in his heart, but shall believe that 
what he is saying is taking place, it shall be to 
him. Because of this, I say to you, All things 
whatsoever you are praying and are asking for, 



124 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

believe that you do receive them, and they shall 
be to you/' You shall have them. 

These are marvelous statements, bringing be- 
fore us possibilities which people have been 
slow to accept, but his own works proved them 
true, and all who have in any measure accepted 
them have in that measure proved them. God's 
faith is that which he has in himself. If we 
have it, we receive it from him, taking it by 
faith, that faith which we already have ; and it 
increases until all things are possible to us. 
Here we see the direction concerning the spoken 
word, commanding the mountain and its obey- 
ing; and also praying and asking. Can any 
one more clearly state the secret of power? 
Can any one more scientifically formulate the 
law of the spirit which makes all things pos- 
sible to the one who believes? 

These are not words of pious talk, meant to 
comfort and cheer; but statements of truth, of 
laws far exceeding natural laws, because they 
are laws of the supernatural and so take pre- 
cedence over natural laws; not, however, sus- 
pending them or setting them aside, because 



THANKSGIVING 125 

they remain operative. Supernatural power 
merely operates in places that are beyond nat- 
ural power. He who stated these supernatural 
laws also said: ^^ Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but my words shall not pass away/' thus 
declaring the supremacy of the supernatural 
word over the outward universe called nature. 

God has so constituted the universe and man 
that man can have dominion, having agencies 
under his control higher than those in what is 
called nature, those which transcend and over- 
rule nature. There has been a great advance of 
mankind as there have been developed and em- 
ployed so many resources of nature. Steam, 
electricity, magnetism, and the like belong to 
nature. They are external, and belong among 
effects, or at best among secondary causes. 
Beyond and above all these, and dominating 
them, are agencies of the rational spirit which 
are direct and immediate. Great advances also 
are to be made in the employment of the re- 
sources of the supernatural. 

This twentieth century is to be as remarkable 
for spiritual triumphs and advancement as the 



126 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

nineteenth was for material. There mnst be 
developed a science of the supernatural, as there 
has been of the natural; a systematic state- 
ment of what is kno^\Ti and demonstrated in 
the higher realm of being and action. The facts 
are there, the operations, and the effects; and 
they invite the deepest investigation and re- 
search. All this will be along lines stated and 
demonstrated by Christ. In this realm of cause, 
we are dealing mth eternal reality, not with 
what is phenomenal, transitory, and temporary. 
^^The things that are seen are temporal, but 
the things which are not seen are eternal. '' 

In this method of direct contact and com- 
munion with the infinite and absolute Cause, 
the source of all power, in this emplojonent of 
supernatural force, one of the logical steps is 
the gi\ing of thanks. All causation is primarily 
and essentially in the spirit; for God is spirit, 
and so the essence of all things must be spirit, 
the effect partaking of the essence of the cause. 
What have been distinguished as spirit and 
matter are really cause and effect, different 
aspects of the same essential and substantial 



THANKSGIVING 127 

reality, spirit. Then the laws of the snpernat- 
nral are the laws of spirit, spiritual laws, the 
laws or methods of thought, of feeling, and of 
will. Man has yet to learn the higher uses of 
intelligent will or creative force. In a measure 
all do use this; but in a measure so small and 
insignificant, compared with what might be, that 
it hardly seems to be the same in kind. Christ 
was master of all this understanding and prac- 
tice, and he declares that his followers should 
come into the same understanding and do even 
greater works than he was then doing. 

Thus it is evident that those works which 
have been called miracles are not arbitrary 
interpositions of divine power in the usual or 
^ ^natural' ^ order of things, but are the results 
of the operation of force or power according 
to the higher order of things, the supernatural. 
Such works do not involve the violation, sus- 
pension, or setting aside of the laws of nature, 
for these continue operative on such occasions ; 
but the higher, according to reason, always 
takes precedence over the lower. When one 
lifts a book, the law of gravitation is not vio- 



128 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

lated, suspended, or set aside; bnt a Jiigher 
manifestation of power, according to a higher 
law, or method of action, is brought out. If 
there are higher laws at all, there may be still 
higher and higher laws. These highest laws 
are in the region of the supernatural, and we 
shall learn to act according to them as we learn 
of Christ and do his works. Then what have 
been called miracles become matters of conunon 
experience; and nothing is more natural to us 
than the supernatural. 

The steps which we are to take in following 
the method which Christ stated and employed 
are these: — 

The first step is. Ask what you will ; 

The second step is, Believe that you take or 
receive ; 

The third step is. Give thanks and act. 

These are the three steps of power, and they 
lead to perfect mastery of every situation or 
problem that one can meet. The law is demon- 
strable. The results which follow when this 
way is followed prove that the way is right. 

The giving of thanks is the seal of believing 



THANKSGIVING 129 

that we did take or receive when we were ask- 
ing; of believing that what we were saying 
was taking place or becoming, though no out- 
ward evidence was observable ; of believing that 
what we declare or claim from the creative 
standpoint is true, as when Christ said, ^^Thou 
art loosed from thine infirmity,'^ or ^^Thy faith 
hath saved thee/' 

Thanksgiving is the business end of prayer, 
because it is the actual appropriation, by an 
act of the human spirit, of that which has been 
asked for. What is the use of asking, if one 
does not accept or take the things asked for, 
when they have been given? In the philosophy 
and science of the supernatural, of spiritual 
being and power, the place of thanksgiving is 
clear and definite, all according to reason. It 
is strange that the world, and even the church, 
have overlooked the real significance of all these 
exhortations to thanksgiving, not seeing that 
it is one of the essential steps in obtaining 
answers to prayer. Is it not time for thought- 
ful consideration to take the place of tradition, 
and science the place of sanctimony? 



130 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

The law or method is, Ask, and then believe 
that you receive or take or have received — ^not 
shall receive some time. Then give thanks. As 
yon ask in faith, so must yon take in faith and 
give thanks ip faith. It is not a matter of 
feeling, it is not a matter of seeing effects, but 
merely of believing. In believing there is 
brought about a union with the infinite Mind 
and Will which is creative, producing that 
which is believed, bringing it out of the unseen 
but believed-in state into the seen and manifest 
state. If one believes that he can do, he does; 
if he believes that he can sing, he sings; if he 
believes that he takes from God, he does take 
from hinu 

No law of nature is more certain in its oper- 
ation than this law of prayer or the spoken 
word. A certain man desired a certain object, 
and so he asked for it. Then he believed that 
he accepted, took, or received it. Then he gave 
thanks that he had it. He did not feel any 
change in himself or see any change in things. 
From the ordinary human standpoint, and so 
far as visible and tangible means were con- 



THANKSGIVING 131 

cerned, it seemed impossible that he could ever 
have his object. Indeed, things took place, 
which, to all appearance, made it evident that 
nothing of the kind could be. Whenever he 
would think of the object, he would say: ^^ Thank 
God, it is mine.'' Whenever a doubt would 
come to mind, he would say these words and 
overwhelm the doubt. When the things oc- 
curred which seemed to show his object was im- 
possible to have, he would speak these words, 
often right out aloud. In his mind he was con- 
firming, strengthening, and deepening the con- 
viction that he really had what he had asked for 
and believed that he took. 

Can we not see a kind of packing and hard- 
ening of his conviction by the repetition of his 
thanksgiving? Or is it easier to see that with 
each repetition a new impetus or a new incre- 
ment of power was added, which brought his 
desired object closer and closer to him by a 
stronger and stranger attraction? Just at the 
right time, in spite of all that had seemed ad- 
verse, regardless of seeming impossibility, not- 
withstanding the necessary means did not ap- 



132 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

pear all along, there came the combination of 
visible and tangible means and all other events 
and arrangements, so that the prayer was actu- 
ally and manifestly answered in his possession 
and enjoyment of what he had asked for. **If 
you shall ask me anything in my name, that 
will I do/^ That, not something else. 

^^I can give thanks when I get what I ask, 
but how can I do so before? How can I say 
that I have what I ask, when I do not see it or 
feel itr^ Let us inquire when we get, when 
the getting takes place. A little thought en- 
ables any one to see that the essential of every 
transaction is in the mind, and that the out- 
ward acts are merely the expression or the car- 
rying out of details. In a real estate deal, the 
papers and record are merely the confirmation 
and evidence of what has been done in the mind. 
See how much has been thought, and how many 
things have been weighed in the mind, and how 
the will of both parties has been brought to a 
concentration. Then each accepted the terms 
of the deal, each considered the transaction 
done. The one ceased to call the property his, 



THANKSGIVma 133 

and the other began to call it his. The record 
was only that all this might make evident what 
had been done in the mind. The delivery and 
the acceptance of the property did not require 
taking it up and handing it over. Such a trans- 
action may take place and the property be thou- 
sands of miles away. 

Any day in business one gives his check in 
a deal, believing that his bank will pay it out 
of his deposit, and the other party to the deal 
accepts the check, giving a receipt for the 
amount. Yet not a sight of actual coin is there. 
The recipient of the check believes that he has 
received the money, counts or reckons it so, and 
it comes out so. He believes that the maker of 
the check has the money in the bank and that 
the bank is solvent. He says, ** Thank you.'' 
He may pass along the check, and it may be 
used in a dozen other deals, all who handle it 
believing that it is ^^good.'' Our whole banking 
system is built and conducted on faith. People 
believe that they receive money and so reckon 
it, and vast transactions and many of them 
may take place all in the mind, and no actual 



134 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

coin be touclied until the end of a series of 
deals, and that amount of coin a mere trifle 
compared with the aggregate of the transac- 
tions. 

When you believe and reckon that you get, 
you do get, and that is the time to give thanks. 
It is not a question of seeing or of feeling, not 
a matter of outward appearance ; but of believ- 
ing and reckoning. Thus it is easy to get at the 
answer to our questions. In one's mind, in his 
imagination, if you please, he perceives that he 
gets or takes. It is in his belief or faith, by an 
act of faith. One speaks of his possession from 
this higher standpoint of causation, not from the 
lower standpoint of effect, of which the five 
senses enable him to become cognizant. He 
says that he has, in order to have; speaking 
from the higher standpoint. He speaks out of 
the unseen into the seen, out of the supernat- 
ural into the natural, and thus is so far a 
creator of what he wills. It is all in union and 
co-operation with God. 

When anything visible and tangible is of- 
fered, one has to believe that the person who 



THANKSGIVING 135 

offers means to give it, and one has to believe 
that he receives, or he would not reach out and 
take hold of the object. The essential of the 
receiving and possession is in the mind. There 
must be a conviction that it is reaUy a gift. 
When this conviction or belief is reached as a 
state of mind, one gets or possesses the thing 
offered. 

Giving thanks is the clinching of acceptance, 
whether the object be given by man or given by 
God. It consummates the act of faith or be- 
lief, and the next stage is realization, demon- 
stration. Faith or belief first, seeing and hand- 
ling afterwards. Follow np yonr asking by 
mentally accepting and claiming what yon ask, 
and giving thanks for it. Then act as if yon 
believed. Step out npon the firm ground of 
your faith or conviction, whether you see your 
way or not. Step out on faith and see things 
come as required, just in the right place and 
time. This is an experience that truly brings 
out the divine in man. It is having God^s faith 
and believing that what one is saying is taking 
place. Does this seem like taking a risk? Then 



136 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

take the risk and find that yon are really taking 
what yon asked for, taking it by faitk In 
dealing with God, there are no risks. 

Taking with thanks is a very important part 
in prayer. Millions ask and beseech; bnt few 
take. They witlihold their thanking till they 
see that their prayer is answered, and thns, do 
not the very thing that is essential, believe 
that their prayer is answered. It is not said 
^'AU things whatsoever yon shall ask in prayer, 
seeing, yon shaU receive,'' bnt ''believing/' 
Believe before yon see; believe in order to see. 
^^Did I not say nnto thee that, if thon wonldest 
believe, thon shonldest see the glory of God?'^ 
Martha had to learn that lesson. 

Innnmerable prayers are and have been made, 
and there has been no lack of earnestness and 
SLQcerity; bnt the results have not been seen, 
just because the taking and thanking steps of 
the operation have been left off. One may 
plow and sow, and his crop may grow grandly; 
but if he does not reap, his harvest amounts to 
nothing to him. It awaits his taking; but if he 
does not take it, surely he can not blame any 



THANKSGIVING 137 

one but himself. Every prayer is answered, 
but not every answer is accepted. ^^Ask, and 
it shall be given yon/' but you must do the 
taking and the acting. 

The use of the will in taking and thanking 
is very evident. One must believe, or persuade 
himself, that he has received what he has asked 
for, and give thanks based on that belief. Does 
this seem like imagination or self-deception? 
It really is not deception, but bringing about 
first a creative conviction and then the actual 
expression or embodiment of what was held 
in the mind as a desire and then as a convic- 
tion. Call it imagination, if you please. Does 
not imagination precede every work of creative 
genius? Every work of art, every invention, 
every successful enterprise, begins in the im- 
agination or imaging region of the mind. This 
imaging power of every person is the region 
of schemes, plans, and all else that may pre- 
cede and develop into successful issues. One 
must compel himself to disregard appearances, 
refuse to consider the senses, what he hears, 
sees, and touches, even what he imagines to the 



138 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

contrary, and accept and hold fast to the nn- 
seen and intangible; he must hold it with the 
mind and so bring it forth into manifestation. 
This may involve imagination, but it brings 
forth the truth, and so is not deception. 

When a university is founded on paper it 
is a work of imagination. The buildings are 
planned, the courses of study are laid out, and 
plans are made for the completed school; but 
not a foot of ground or a piece of wood or stone 
may be in sight. Later on, as things develop, 
the plans are carried out, and the buildings 
stand as actual things, visible and tangible, 
and the studies are pursued as laid out: the 
university is an accomplished fact, the pride 
of multitudes. Was it mere imagination when 
on paper? Was it something unreal then? 
Was any one deceived? 

The successful careers are always in the 
creative imagination before they are recorded 
in history. Who shall say that the real secret 
of every success is not prayer and statement 
of need with thanksgiving, even though the per- 
sons have not realized it themselves ? Who has 



THANKSGIVING 139 

ever accompHslied anything worth while with- 
out saying to himself, if not to others, that he 
was going to do that thing, and kept it vividly 
before his mind's eye, believing that he would 
succeed? Many fulfill the law without realizing 
it, and as they fulfill its conditions, they get 
the results. They have the possession, even 
though they may not have the profession. 

The manner of giving thanks is simple: **I 
thank thee.'' Ask, believe that you take, thank 
God that you now have; then act. A question 
may arise in the mind, some subtle doubt. Say 
at once : ^^ Thank God, it is done," ^^It is mine," 
^^I have it," as the case may require. This 
eliminates questions and doubts, and brings 
about a firm, steady, confident state of mind, 
leading on to victory. In the face of apparent 
impossibility, when things seem the other way 
rather than as we desire, say this: ^^ Thank 
God, it is done," ^^ Thank God for victory." 
This is a most powerful way of appropriating, 
of drawing from the unseen, of bringing from 
the hand of the Almighty, whatever is needed. 
When others talk of difficulty and predict dis- 



140 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

aster, when not a ray of encouragement shines 
on your pathway, when everything seems 
blocked up, then speak your word that shatters 
all opposition, that banishes discouragement: 
^^ Thank God, I can, and I will/' It will enable 
you to do wonders. 

In any situation, keep in mind ^^ Thank God 
for victory '^ and note its effect upon yourself 
and upon the situation. Paul wrote: ^^ Thanks 
be to God who always leads us in triumph in 
Christ. '' The idea in the words is that of the 
ancient Eoman triumph, given successful gen- 
erals after some great victory. It is a triumphal 
procession in which are borne and displayed 
the trophies brought from the vanquished foe, 
and along with the trophies the captive enemy. 
God gives us such triumphal processions, if we 
put ourselves completely at his disposal and 
accept his gifts and victories with thanksgiving. 

When everything is going well, when every 
desire of the heart seems met, when it seems as 
if the eternal rhythm of the divine were bearing 
you onward, keep all this going so by continu- 
ing in the attitude of thanksgiving. What got 



THANKSGIVING 141 

you into that rhythm will keep you there. Pros- 
perity seems harder to bear than adversity, be- 
cause people are so wont to forget God and the 
true secret of prosperity when all seems going 
well. When things are trying, overcome them 
with the spirit of thanKsgiving. Give thanks 
for victory received, taken, by faith, before it 
is manifest; and so through divine creative 
power make it manifest. ^^This is the victory 
that overcomes the world, our faith.'' It is 
the one who believes that conquers, and the 
one who gives thanks shows that he believes. 
When you start a new enterprise or embark 
upon an unknown sea, throw yourself into your 
work with faith in God, in yourself, and in your 
success. Throw yourself mentally beyond the 
present into victory and success now given by 
God and received by you in spirit by faith, and 
thank God. 



VI 



THE PEACE OF GOD 

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understand- 
ing, shall keep your hearts and your thoughts in Christ 
Jesus." 

HERE is presented to us the glorious re- 
sult of all that has been done. It is the 
sabbath-rest, we might say, after the activity- 
just considered. There is an indescribable 
peace that comes, incomprehensible, proceed- 
ing from God, ^Hhe peace of God that sur- 
passes understanding. '^ We can experience it, 
but we can not explain it. It is nothing of or- 
dinary experience, and nothing in ordinary 
human experience is comparable with it. It is 
beyond the power of human understanding. 
One may, in a measure, describe it, but he can 
not state its nature, further than to say that it 
is God^s peace. It simply is, and he enjoys it; 
but he can not tell what it is or how it is, be- 

142 



THE PEACE OP GOD 143 

cause it is one of those ultimate facts of ex- 
perience, of consciousness. 

One has a consciousness that all is well. 
There is no worry — nothing to worry abont. 
Worry seems impossible, a thing far removed 
from his world. One feels a sense of security 
or safety, as if he were guarded by unseen 
forces. Were Elisha's horsemen and chariots 
something of this kind? Were the angels that 
* ^ministered unto him'' after Christ's victory 
in the wilderness anything of this kind? 

Another thought presents itself. The words 
translated save and salvation in the New Testa- 
ment have various applications, as when the 
woman touched the tassel of Christ's garment, 
when the blind men were restored, when the 
woman wiped his feet with her hair, and vari- 
ous others ; the idea being that of safety, sound- 
ness, wholeness. Is this divine peace the ful- 
ness of all these meanings at once? and is this 
the true salvation through Christ? One is re- 
minded of John's statement: ^^This is the bold- 
ness which we have towards him, that if we 
shall ask anything according to his will, he hears 



144 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

ns. And if we know that he is hearing ns, 
whatsoever we shall be asking, we know that we 
have the petitions which we have asked from 
him/' What a sense of repose and confidence 
this is, as one has the testimony in himself. To 
ask according to his will is to ask according to 
the method, way, or law which we have pre- 
viously explained ; for that is his revealed will. 
We come to know that he is hearing ns and that 
therefore we have what we ask. We have the 
testimony in ourselves. Can one 's state of mind 
then be other than that of divine peace? Such 
consciousness of God is peace. 

Externally we see results, the actual mani- 
festation of what we have asked for, what we 
have stated as our requirements. The demon- 
stration of divine power in the solving of our 
problems is manifest. What we believed that 
we received we now see that we have received. 
Faith is confirmed by sight. We have proved 
or demonstrated that the statements of Christ 
are true. 

There are three points in this statement of 
the result of rejoicing, keeping conscious of 



THE PEACE OF GOD 145 

God, being anxious about nothing, and making 
our requests known by prayer and statement of 
need with thanksgiving: — 

1. The peace of God; 

2. Its quality. 

3. Its power. 

1. The peace of God is God's peace, that 
which is characteristic of him and that which 
he imparts. It must originate in him and pro- 
ceed from him. The Supreme Being can not 
be agitated or troubled, but must abide in eter- 
nal and infinite peace, and can not know fear 
or anxiety. Communicating his being to man 
in creation and in regeneration, he can com- 
municate also whatever else he wills, any qual- 
ity, power, or experience. Thus righteousness 
is not something to be wrought out by keeping 
the letter of the law, but the righteousness of 
God is communicated to man through love or 
self -giving and must be received by man through 
faith; faith and love working together. So 
also God communicates his own action as a 
rational spirit: knowledge, feeling, and power; 
and also his own state, peace. 



146 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

Peace is not mere quiet or rest, inactivity; 
but may be enjoyed amid great activity. We 
have all known at some time, and many of us 
many times, a peculiar state of inner smooth- 
ness, life seeming to be very full and powerful, 
our thoughts wonderfully accelerated and lofty. 
This was peace, divine peace. It is a state of 
freedom from anything that troubles or that 
makes afraid; of security from all harm or 
danger. One time I sat upon a rock, high above 
a yawning chasm that extended so far down 
into the earth that no one had ever been able to 
fathom it. Yet I felt secure upon the rock, 
though a couple of feet of movement would have 
precipated me into the unknown depths of 
water far down below. So, in this divine peace 
and security, it matters not what might be if — . 
One can look possible danger and trial and 
difficulty and trouble and disaster in the face 
and be all at peace within, because he is held 
above and beyond them. 

On the positive side, it is steadiness, firm- 
ness, satisfaction. Such a state can not be 
manufactured by man, but must have its origin 



THE PEACE OF GOD 147 

in God; yet it follows man^s earnest seeking, 
follows according to law. He fulfils certain 
conditions, and the result follows. It belongs 
to every one as a child of God, and it can be 
realized. The way is not hard. We can not 
make the light or the warmth of the sun. These 
are poured forth from that great central source, 
and we can keep ourselves from the light and 
warmth, or we can place ourselves in a posi- 
tion to receive and enjoy both. God^s intelli- 
gence and love are poured forth without meas- 
ure ; we can keep from them, or we can so place 
ourselves as to receive and enjoy both. 

This inward and essential peace becomes out- 
wardly manifest. It begins as a state of the 
spirit, harmony, such a state as God dwells in 
and communicates to those who cultivate com- 
munion with him. As it originates in God and 
proceeds from him, it is his state imparted to 
man. Man was created like God; so he ought 
to dwell in the same state as God. As the 
Holy Spirit guides us into all the truth, all the 
reality, surely we must have this peace. *^ Re- 
ceive the Holy Spirit, ^^ said the risen Christ, 



148 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

as he breathed upon the assembled disciples. 
They believed that they received, and some 
days after, at Pentecost, it was outwardly man- 
ifest that they had received the Holy Spirit. 
In this glorious state there is no fear, bnt 
mastery^ dominion, the command of God-given 
resources. From the central self proceed pow- 
er; dominion over all things, beginning with 
self-dominion; ability to use power for prac- 
tical and definite ends. No one is at peace, 
if he is loaded with care; if he is worried by 
people or by things; if he is uncertain of his 
way, or in the dark. According to the laws of 
our being, the inner state finds expression in 
outward things, in the body as health; in cir- 
cumstances as abundance and success; in so- 
ciety as respect and love from others. The 
worried, fretful, complaining person is uncom- 
fortable in mind and in body, his circumstances' 
are inharmonious, and socially he is dreaded. 

One is not at peace in the full sense of the 
word, if he is disordered in body, if organs 
and functions are imperfect, if he feels ham- 
pered and bound down because of physical 



THE PEACE OF GOD 149 

weakness and ailment. Nor is one at peace, if 
his affairs are in disorder, and embarrassment 
and hindrance confront him. This divine peace 
extends to wider ranges than the mere inward 
peace of mind, though that is essential. It in- 
cludes also one^s relations to other people and 
to things. It means harmony in domestic, re- 
ligious, social, commercial, political, and all 
other relations and affairs. It means prosper- 
ity, success, the supply of all needs, the enjoy- 
ment of life and all power. To be anxious or 
worried about any of these things is not to be 
at peace ; but when one is conscious of God and 
of his power, that Omnipotence is shaping 
things for him, he is all at peace. He has asked 
what he willed, and now it is becoming or tak- 
ing place for him; but he had to abide in the 
Christ first, had to take his words into himself 
and let them there abide. 

There must be peace with God before one 
can have the peace of God. We must have the 
faith of God, in order to have the power of 
God; and we must have the mind of Christ. 
One can then look forth upon the course of 



150 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

events in Ihe world at large and in his own 
affairs and nothing excites or worries him. He 
may not understand all that is going on, may 
not see the outcome, may not yet perceive what 
is the divine purpose ; but such is his knowledge 
of God and trust in him, that he is all at peace. 
He believes, without waiting to see or to feel. 
He abides in Christ, and Christ's words abide 
in him; so, whatever he wills, he asks and be- 
lieves that he receives, and then keeps giving 
thanks. Divine peace keeps him, keeps all his 
thoughts and his heart from which they pro- 
ceed. This is life abundant and satisfying. 

Only God can give this peace; for only he 
has it to give. There is no other source of it. 
Heaven as an abode can not give it, and for one 
to be in heaven without it would be to come to 
the wedding feast without the garment. Only 
those who have learned the secret of suscepti- 
bility to the Spirit can take into themselves that 
divine quality which makes all this possible, 
that makes heaven endurable; that makes, in- 
deed, heaven everywhere, not as a mere place, 
but as a state of mind. We must be truly par- 



THE PEACE OF GOD 151 

takers of the divine nature ; then all this, super- 
natural and eternal as it is, is natural to us. 

2. The quality of this peace is divine and sur- 
passes or goes beyond all understanding. It 
is beyond the power of human comprehen- 
sion; and yet it can be apprehended and en- 
joyed. Philosophy can not explain or analyze 
it. It is not a matter of the intellect or under- 
standing, but of experience. It is not some- 
thing to be achieved, but received. One does 
not strive to see, but opens his eyes; and he 
sees, whether he understands how or not. There 
is no struggle about it. So one tells the Infinite 
all that is on his heart, his needs, his desires, 
his aspirations, all his confidences, in a busi- 
ness-like way, gives thanks, and then peace 
comes, the peace of possession, realizing that 
in his oneness with the Father he has what he 
has asked for. This peace is not forced or 
made, but is conferred, communicated, made 
common between God and man. 

Many make the mistake of trying to under- 
stand first and experience afterward. If one will 
reflect, he will see how absurd this is. Experi- 



152 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

ence first, explanation afterward, is the natural 
order ; something to explain before explanation 
can be given. Does one understand another's 
utterance before that other speaks or after- 
wards? Perception first, then understanding; 
but the thing perceived must precede percep- 
tion. The fact that a thing is beyond under- 
standing does not place it beyond realization; 
it merely means that it is something so satisfy- 
ing, so beyond ordinary human experience, that 
it is spoken of as beyond all understanding. 

Philosophically considered, intellect is not the 
only entrance to the essential man, the rational 
spirit. It is a mistake to think that one must 
know things in order to have and to enjoy them. 
It is not true. It is the idea of the true that 
we take in through the intellect ; but the beauti- 
ful we take in through the feelings, and the 
good through the will. It is blessed that we 
can express more than we can explain, and en- 
joy more than we can account for or understand. 
We breathe and see and hear and love before 
we can explain how we do these things or why. 
So also in the higher experiences with eternal 



THE PEACE OF GOD 153 

things. They are in us, in our life and experi- 
ence, though we may never attempt to explain 
or understand them. So we can enjoy the divine 
peace and abide in it without even trying to 
understand it. The little child abides in its 
mother ^s love, but may have very little under- 
standing of what it is. The philosophy of such 
abiding is beyond the child ; but the fact is there. 

3. We now come to peace as a power, and 
what it does. It heeps our hearts and our 
thoughts. The word translated T^eep means to 
see beforehand, provide; and then to keep or 
to guard as with a military force or garrison. 
It denotes a constant, watchful, and efficient 
protection. It is nothing that we do ; it is done 
for us. We do not have to guard ourselves, we 
are guarded, kept close to the Christ. Peace 
as a power many have never experienced. It 
keeps or guards from all that might interrupt 
one^s fellowship with the Father, whether from 
within or from without. It guards from all 
disturbance and from fear, from all that is not 
of God. 

The heart is the centre of the natural or 



154 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

physical life, from which is sent forth the 
stream of vitality to every point in the body. 
So we speak of the heart as the centre of all 
spiritual life and power in man. Out of this 
central spring proceed all the issues of life; 
all the thoughts, motives, impulses, desires, im- 
aginations, plans, purposes, choices, and voli- 
tions. It is, when changed by the Spirit of God, 
the fountain of the new life. ^^ Thoughts'^ are 
not the mere ideas or the acts of the intellect, 
but are the acts and products of the entire 
rational spirit, intellect, feelings, and will. As 
the heart is the centre of all spiritual life, so 
these thoughts are the products which proceed 
from the heart, the expression or manifestation 
of that life of the spirit. With regard to all, 
the peace of God is the protecting and regulat- 
ing power. 

The essence of all things is spirit, because 
the infinite Spirit or God is the Cause of all, 
and an effect is an embodiment of the cause. 
If the cause is spirit, the effect must be of the 
same substance. The activities of the rational 
spirit, the divine lil?:eness, determine the out- 



THE PEACE OF GOD 155 

ward expression. The control of all things is 
in the inner unseen region of causation, as we 
have noted, and this is the region of spirit. 

Every one knows that in his own mental 
or spiritual being is perpetual motion. His 
mind never stops. In part this motion or ac- 
tivity may be suspended, as in sleep ; but never 
wholly. There is an endless coming and going 
of ideas, motives, impulses, and purposes. Sug- 
gestions are always arising. Out of a central 
something, called in the Bible the heart, proceed 
all these things, and one observes them in con- 
sciousness. He can not stop them, though he 
can regulate them. Often they are far from 
what one desires them to be or his judgment 
approves. Sometimes he seems to be driven by 
them, carried as on an irresistible stream, and 
all efforts to control them seem fruitless. Some- 
thing of this sort must have been Paul's case 
when he wrote, ^^0 wretched man that I am, 
who shall deliver me from the body of this 
death?'' He must mean the apparent power 
which seemed to be holding him in bondage 
and making his body subject to death. 



156 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

Many have tried to rule their own selves, to 
curb the spirit, to silence their noisy thoughts, 
to calm the turmoil within them, but all in vain. 
They have found it beyond their skill. Re- 
solves, vows, pledges, — all have proved power- 
less. They have thought that some power of 
sin held them; they have believed themselves 
obsessed by some departed spirit, and they have 
believed in the power of Satan. But for all 
such people here is boundless help. ^^For this 
purpose was the Son of God manifested that he 
might destroy the works of the devil.'' Jesus 
Christ came as the Son of God to destroy what 
have seemed to be the works of an adversary of 
mankind. When he said, ^^ Woman, thou art 
loosed from thine infirmity,'' and she straight- 
ened up well, he loosed the bond by his word of 
power; and afterwards, as he spoke, he said 
of her, ^^whom Satan hath bound, lo, these 
eighteen years." This destroying of satanic 
works was delivering people, setting them free, 
making them whole. If any one believes, he 
finds himself saved, delivered, or set free. The 
divine peace keeps his heart and all that may 



THE PEACE OF GOD l5t 

emanate from it, guarding, guiding, energizing, 
and life is a glad song of triumph and praise 
to the eternal Father, 

Sometimes the feelings are in a riot, im- 
agination beyond control, wild fancies flitting 
through the mind, and nameless fears haunting 
one. No anxious thought will enable one to sub- 
due these. Only God's power can do it. No 
one can guard himself against them success- 
fully. But the peace of God will guard us 
against such things. The will may be weak, 
exertion a burden, concentration impossible, 
perseverance beyond one. The very ideas of 
concentration and persistency seem wearisome. 
But this peace of God is an inspiration, an 
energizing, urging one onward and imparting 
strength and efficiency. ^^Our sufficiency is 
from God.'' When one has this peace, his 
energy is not dissipated in useless anxiety, but 
is ready to be concentrated and put forth as 
effective power. Some find the intellect dull 
and languid, not that keenness characterizing 
it which ought to be. But, when this divine 
peace is realized, the intellect seems to grasp 



Igg YOUR RIGHT TO JBE HAPPY 

and understand without effort, and the hard 
and toilsome effort to know and to learn is past 
and gone. A new intellectual life is experi- 
enced. 

Shall one keep always watching himself? 
Shall he constantly keep weighing motives, bal- 
ancing the will, nagging himself to see whether 
he is right? No: constant self-criticism is not 
conducive to growth. One grows and improves 
under encouragement, and not under criticism 
and censure. One with this divine peace forgets 
himself and does not have his attention turned 
away from his work to his condition. In this 
peace he is free to develop without watching 
his development, without watching the prog- 
ress or the process. 

It is well known that thoughts are formative, 
shaping conditions and circumstances. What, 
then, shall become of one, if he does not con- 
stantly watch his thoughts? Are we not told 
to watch and pray, that we may not enter into 
temptation? Yes; but not to watch ourselves 
anxiously or in fear, but to watch how the 
divine presence is leading us and keeping us. 



THE PEACE OF GOD 159 

Shall we watch the enemy, or our Captain? If 
one is subject to impressions and suggestions 
from others, how is he to be so watchful as 
to ward off these things and keep free? Is not 
the labor in this line too great for the reward? 
Does it pay? Is life worth while? Many are 
asking such questions to-day; and the teaching 
which emanates from certain (Quarters and is 
called the ^ ^ Truth, '^ savoring more of heathen 
than of Christian principles, may well inspire 
such questions. ^^My yoke is easy and my 
burden is light, ^' said he who invited all who 
labor and are heavy laden to come to him and 
be rested. Every one who follows the Christ 
finds that he has no weariness and no burden. 
He finds rest to his soul, rest to his entire be- 
ing. Eest from fear and anxiety, rest from care 
and struggle, r^st from the burden of the world, 
rest from physical weariness, — all this is found 
in what Christ meant: ^^I will rest you." 

The child of God has no need of such ques- 
tions and cares. He must not take upon himself 
so much, but learn to trust wholly in the loving 
Father. He must learn literally to throw all 



160 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

his anxiety "apon God. The government of the 
universe, or even of humanity, is not upon any 
man^s shoulders. Does the little child distress 
himself about things ? Is he anxious and troub- 
led about his food or clothing? Does he study 
motives — ^his own or another's? Does he keep 
watching himself or thinking about the effect 
of others upon himself? The child of God must 
learn that complete abandonment of himself and 
of his way to the One who cares for him is the 
secret of peace and happiness. Once get the 
power of divine peace, and you do not have 
to keep yourself, but you are kept, you are 
guarded. Learn the keeping power of God. A 
garrison is always keeping the citadel of your 
safety and welfare, defending you from all that 
is not desirable. ^^ Deliver us from eviP' is an 
answered prayer now. He knows no evil, but 
is kept in the realization of God and therefore 
of good. 

This peace not only guards your heart and 
your thoughts from negative and undesirable 
things, from tendencies, impulses, and impres- 
sions, but it also guides them in ways that sat- 



THE PEACE OF GOD 161 

isfy. The keeping power of peace is both nega- 
tive and positive, the former keeping from what 
should not be, and the latter keeping in what 
should be. The flanges of the wheels not only 
keep the train from running off the track, but 
also keep the train on the track where it should 
be. It is not enough to be kept away from 
harm; we must also be kept in safety and free- 
dom and happiness. 

This peace is not a manufactured thing, but 
it comes as one is silently receptive to the 
Spirit's working. When one has let down from 
all the cares of the world, has laid aside every 
weight; when he has let the Spirit of God 
come into his entire being and take possession 
of him, there is such a calmness and quietness 
that no words can describe it. There is a holi- 
ness about it, a sacredness and privacy, and he 
can not tell about it without feeling that he 
would betray a confidence which God had en- 
trusted to him alone. There are privacies be- 
tween people, confidences, too sacred to be told 
to others; so also are there such between God 
and individuals. 



162 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

But this is not idle sitting in silence, nor is 
it ascetic withdrawal from one 's fellow men. It 
fosters no self-complacency that leads to one's 
feeling that he is better or more favored of 
God than his fellows. A true humility is char- 
acteristic of those who have come into this 
close contact and loving fellowship with God. 
Realizing God's fatherhood, one realizes also 
man's brotherhood, the unity and solidarity of 
mankind. 

We have noticed how, when one begins to 
get still, the thoughts often seem noisy. There 
come up into consciousness all kinds of sugges- 
tions and ideas, and it seems as if no peace 
could ever prevail where that chaotic turmoil 
rages. But over this tumultuous deep hovers 
the Spirit of God, and he breathes over the 
surface; and there come forth the manifesta- 
tions of order. There is light, and the firma- 
ment, and the firm land, and the living things, 
and finally man as God's likeness. How the 
order of creation is reproduced in man! 

There are those besetting things which you 
have striven so hard to conquer. There are 



THE PEACE OF GOD 163 

those habits and those early impressions that 
have seemed to dominate you. There are those 
customs of the world, those beliefs and thoughts 
and notions common to humanity. And again, 
there come before you that temper, that impul- 
siveness, that fear, and that suspicion. How 
you have labored and struggled to overcome all 
these, only to find that they still come back and 
come up and carry you captive! Is there not 
need that some divine power come and set the 
captive free and open the prison door to those 
who are bound? 

And he has come. Jesus Christ is the Com- 
ing One of prophecy, and he it is who shall 
deliver his people. His very name declares 
it: Jesus, Savior, Deliverer; Christ, Anointed. 
And his words and works establish his being 
the Son of God with power. He is the promised 
Seed, the Messiah promised by God and ex- 
pected by his people; and whoever believes on 
him has deliverance: *^ Jesus of Nazareth, how 
God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and 
power, who went about doing good and healing 
all who were oppressed by the devil, because 



164 YOUR RIGHT TO BE HAPPY 

God was with him/^ So declared Peter; and fie 
added: ^' And we are witnesses of all things 
which he did both in the country of the Jews 
and in Jerusalem, whom also they slew, hang- 
ing him upon a tree/' Again, in his epistle, 
he says : ^'We were eyewitnesses of his glory/' 
John gives as the purpose of his writing his 
Gospel: *^ These were written, that you may 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
God; and that believing you may have life in 
his name/' His first Epistle is for a similar 
purpose : ^ ' That which we have seen and heard 
do we declare unto you also, that you may have 
fellowship with us: yes, and our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ ; 
and these things we write that our joy may be 
fulfilled/' We have the full testimony of eye- 
witnesses who laid down their lives in their 
testifying to the truth. 

Ajid now we come to the secret of all peace : 
*4n Christ Jesus/' He is our peace, and it is 
in him that the peace of God guards our hearts 
and our thoughts. In him we have aH. things. 
In him is life, and ^'he that hath the Son hath 



THE PEACE OF GOD 165 

the life^^; in him is no sin, no sickness, no 
trouble, and no death. In him is the new crea- 
tion, the new heaven and the new earth in which 
dwells righteousness. It is only as we abide in 
the true vine and are branches bearing fruit 
that we are able to do anything; but the very 
glory of the Father is that we bear much fruit 
and so be Christ's disciples. It was for this 
very purpose that he chose and appointed the 
twelve, and chooses his disciples to-day. 

Dear child of God, as you enter into the most 
holy place, the sanctuary of the soul, along with 
the great High Priest, you find the veil all rent, 
no separation between you and God, and in that 
holy of holies, alone with the living God, you 
receive his peace that surpasses all understand- 
ing and you are changed in the twinkling of an 
eye, your heart and your thoughts made right 
and then kept as with a garrison in Christ 
Jesus I 



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